Summary: Researchers are studying the link between gut bacteria and Alzheimer’s disease. They believe that harmful metabolites from bad bacteria can travel to the brain, causing inflammation and potentially triggering dementia.
The study aims to develop drug therapies to block these metabolites and explore the use of probiotics and nutritional supplements to support gut health and potentially prevent or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Highlights:
- Harmful gut bacteria can trigger and accelerate Alzheimer’s disease.
- Poor diet, aging and lack of exercise can contribute to the development of unhealthy gut bacteria.
- Probiotics and nutritional supplements could help fight bad bacteria and protect the brain.
Source: University of South Australia
The phrase “you are what you eat” was coined almost a century before Alois Alzheimer made his breakthrough in identifying brain diseases, but it is now clear that diet, as well as age, influence the brain.
Growing research suggests a correlation between Alzheimer’s disease and an unhealthy gut, and Australian scientists hope to go further by exploring how harmful gut bacteria gain access to the brain and lead to dementia.
Dr Ibrahim Javed, a nano-bioscientist at the University of South Australia, says tiny metabolites released by bad bacteria in the gut can travel to the brain, causing inflammation and triggering Alzheimer’s disease, for which there is no cure.
In younger people this is less likely because the blood-brain barrier is much stronger, but it weakens with age, allowing harmful substances to damage neurons. As the gut microbiome ages, it also loses its ability to fight disease.
By identifying how metabolites released by bad bacteria damage neurons and hopefully developing new drug treatments to block them, Dr. Javed says it should be possible to slow or stop the progression of the disease. Alzheimer’s disease.
A second goal of this three-year research project is to study how probiotics and nutritional supplements, both of which contain good bacteria, can eliminate bad bacteria and prevent metabolites from escaping the gut.
This follows several international clinical research studies that have demonstrated that probiotics improve digestive and cognitive problems in people with acute and chronic COVID-19.
Did you know that a poor diet can accelerate your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease?
An unhealthy gut produces bad bacteria, which release tiny metabolites that travel to the brain, causing inflammation.
Scientists from the University of South Australia are studying how probiotics and nutritional supplements – both of which contain good bacteria – can eliminate bad bacteria and prevent metabolites from escaping the gut and accessing the brain. A poor diet is just one of many factors that harm gut bacteria.
Aging, lack of exercise, exposure to pesticides and genetics also play a role. Credit: University of South Australia
“Our research indicates that harmful gut bacteria can trigger early-onset dementia and accelerate dementia in patients already struggling with neurodegenerative disease,” says Dr. Javed.
“Poor diet is one of many factors that harm gut bacteria, increasing the chances of developing dementia. Aging, lack of exercise, exposure to pesticides and genetics also play a role, although the latter is responsible for only a very small number of cases. In most cases, dementia is preventable.
Most types of bacteria are harmless – many are even essential to our survival – but bad bacteria create biofilms that cause gastrointestinal infections, chronic diseases, bowel cancers and brain diseases.
Alzheimer’s disease affects up to 55 million people worldwide, and with an aging population, that number is expected to double every 20 years, according to Alzheimer’s Disease International.
Early-onset dementia – before the age of 65 – is increasingly common in the global population, attributed to preventable factors such as poor diet and sedentary lifestyle, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption , social isolation, exposure to pesticides and air pollution.
Dr Javed’s team is also collaborating with Associate Professor Larisa Bobrovskaya, a neuroscientist at UniSA, on a potential link between stress and Alzheimer’s disease, and whether women are more at risk.
About this research news on Alzheimer’s disease and the microbiome
Author: Ibrahim Javed
Source: University of South Australia
Contact: Ibrahim Javed – University of South Australia
Picture: Image is credited to Neuroscience News
News Source : neurosciencenews.com
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