Warning to anyone plagued by cold after cold over ‘increased risk of killer brain disease’
REGULAR infections could put you at greater risk of dementia, a study suggests.
Bouts of flu- or cold-like illness may cause the brain to age faster, US scientists found.
They used a bacterial toxin on mice to see how the inflammation it causes affects brain power.
Dr Elizabeth Engler-Chiurazzi, of West Virginia University, said repeated exposure was linked to “subtle but significantly impaired cognition”.
She said: “The broader impact of these findings may have important implications for standard of care involving infections in ageing individuals or populations at-risk for dementia.”
More aggressive treatment for infections could be needed in older populations to lower their risk of the condition, the team said.
Read more on dementia
Around 944,000 Brits are currently living with dementia and experts predict the numbers will exceed one million by the end of the decade.
Brain power naturally decreases with age, but larger cognitive impairment is also linked to the deadly condition.
Previous research has suggested inflammation caused by microbial infections to brain ageing, lower cognitive function and greater decline.
The latest study, published in , looked at how repeated infections affect brain power.
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They gave mice doses of lipopolysaccharide — a bacterial toxin that causes an immune response similar to colds — every two weeks for two-and-a-half months.
A control group was given salt-water injections for comparison.
Their brain power was tested with learning and memory tasks to see how these were affected by the infections two weeks after they were given their last injection.
Compared to the control group, those given the toxin were worse at learning and remembering information from the previous day.
What are the symptoms of dementia?
Different types of dementia can affect people differently, and everyone will experience symptoms in their own way.
However, there are some common early symptoms that may appear some time before a diagnosis of dementia.
These include:
- memory loss
- difficulty concentrating
- finding it hard to carry out familiar daily tasks, such as getting confused over the correct change when shopping
- struggling to follow a conversation or find the right word
- being confused about time and place
- mood changes
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Examining brain tissue showed the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning, which is also closely linked to Alzheimer’s, had changed in those that were ill frequently.
Dr Engler-Chiurazzi told : “Currently, the standard of care for the common cold or the flu bug is to stay home, get plenty of rest, drink soup, and let your body do its job to clear the infection.
“This guidance is applied broadly to the population and, to my knowledge, is given regardless of risk for subsequent dementia development.
“These data may also indicate that a greater history of ‘flu-like’ infections could serve as a predictor for cognitive dysfunction later in life.”