Picking your nose can cause Alzheimer's disease? Research confirms that it is true!

Do you think you can just dig gently and everything will be fine? But in fact, you are inadvertently pushing yourself into the "abyss" of Alzheimer's disease.

Picking your nose is an unavoidable behavior for many people in their daily lives, especially when the air quality is poor or the seasons change. The nasal cavity is prone to discomfort, which makes people unable to resist picking their noses. But it is worth noting that a study published in the journal Scientific Reports revealed that frequent nose picking increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease. In daily life, we often ignore some seemingly harmless habits, but we don't know that they may have a significant impact on our health. This article will take you to understand this research finding and explore how to protect our health.

Alzheimer's disease: a killer of the elderly that cannot be ignored

The Revised Criteria for the Diagnosis and Staging of Alzheimer's Disease (2024) states that Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with an insidious onset and has become a major health killer among the elderly worldwide. Its cause is not yet fully understood and may be related to genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors. Its pathological features are abnormal deposition of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. Currently, there is no cure, but drug and non-drug treatments can be used to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life.

Alzheimer's disease is like an "eraser" that quietly sneaks into the brain, slowly erasing our memory and cognitive ability, making the originally clear thinking blurry. The disease not only brings great pain to patients, but also brings heavy burdens to families and society.

Nose picking may increase risk of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Griffith University in Australia published a paper in the journal Scientific Reports that revealed a potential link between nose picking and Alzheimer's disease. The researchers found that Chlamydia pneumoniae can use the nerves between the nasal cavity and the brain as an invasion pathway to invade the central nervous system, thereby increasing the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

This study was based on a mouse model . The researchers first inoculated the nasal mucosa of mice with Chlamydia pneumoniae and found that it infected the olfactory nerve, trigeminal nerve, olfactory bulb and brain within 72 hours. At 7 and 28 days after inoculation, infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae led to the disorder of key pathways for the onset of Alzheimer's disease, resulting in the accumulation of β-amyloid protein (β-amyloid protein is an abnormal protein fragment that accumulates to form plaques and is considered to be one of the main pathological features of Alzheimer's disease). At the same time, in vitro experiments showed that Chlamydia pneumoniae can infect peripheral nerves (i.e., nerve tissue outside the body, such as nerve endings and ganglia) and central nervous glial cells. Glial cells in the nervous system are another type of cell in the brain and spinal cord besides neurons. They provide support and nutrition to neurons and participate in immune responses.

Professor James St Jonh, director of the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research, said that although the study was conducted in a mouse model, the findings also have implications for humans. The research team is planning the next phase of research to demonstrate whether the same pathway exists in humans.

Now that we know that nose picking may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease, how can we protect our health?

1. Develop good personal hygiene habits: Keep your fingers clean and avoid picking your nose with dirty fingers. If you need to clean your nasal cavity, you can use a wet cotton swab or saline solution to gently clean it, and try to reduce the frequency of picking your nose directly with your fingers.

2. Keep the indoor air fresh: open windows regularly to ventilate and keep the indoor air circulating. You can use a humidifier to maintain appropriate indoor humidity to avoid nasal dryness and discomfort and reduce nose picking caused by nasal dryness.

3. Pay attention to a balanced diet: Eat a lot of vegetables, fruits and whole grains to ensure adequate intake of vitamins and minerals to enhance immunity. At the same time, moderate intake of high-quality protein and healthy fats can help prevent respiratory infections and other diseases.

4. Regular physical examinations: Regular health examinations can detect potential problems with the lungs and nervous system early. Especially for people with chronic respiratory diseases or a family history of Alzheimer's disease, physical examinations should be given more attention.

5. Pay attention to cognitive health: If you experience symptoms such as memory loss and cognitive decline, you should seek medical attention in a timely manner. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease. At the same time, you can keep your brain active by engaging in mental activities such as reading, solving puzzles, and learning new skills.

The link between nose picking and Alzheimer's disease has sounded the alarm for us, reminding us to pay attention to some small habits in our daily lives to prevent them from happening. At the same time, we also look forward to more research in this field to provide stronger scientific evidence for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease. From now on, let us develop good living habits to protect the health of ourselves and our families!

References: ChackoA, Delbaz A, Walkden H, Basu S, Armitage CW.Chlamydia pneumoniae can infect thecentral nervous system via the olfactory and trigeminal nerves and contributes to Alzheimer's disease risk.ScientificReports(2022).www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-06749-9