A SIMPLE infection may help to speed up the progress of dementia in patients with the disorder, according to new research from Trinity College Dublin. The findings could help slow the progress of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
The trigger causing the dementia is inflammation, whether a small infection, an injury or simple surgery, said Dr Colm Cunningham of the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and the school of biochemistry and immunology.
The discovery “opens up potential avenues of treatment for patients with dementia”, he said.
Details of the work are published today in the journal Biological Psychiatry. Dr Cunningham co-authored the Wellcome Trust-funded study with Prof Hugh Perry at the University of Southampton.
Infections, surgery or injury all cause the release of substances in the body that promote inflammation, a reaction designed to aid healing. However, these same substances have been shown to induce symptoms of brain deficits in a mouse model with underlying dementia.
“An infection in almost any part of the body can communicate a signal to the brain and, if already affected by dementia, then the infectious insult is able to cause an exacerbation of these [symptoms] in the brain,” Dr Cunningham said.
The effects can be transient, with the subject able to return to their previous level of capacity.
Unfortunately, there may also be a permanent decline, with the subject ending up with stronger symptoms of dementia, Dr Cunningham said.
It has long been recognised how infections can bring on symptoms of cognitive impairment, but this study looked at how the inflammatory process could accelerate dementia and neurodegenerative diseases, he said.
The findings were valuable as there were more than 40,000 people living in Ireland with dementia, he added. “Doctors and carers need to pay increased attention to protect people with dementia from potential causes of systemic inflammation.”
