Alzheimers:  Starts in our Gut?

By Shlomo Maital  

      We must crack the mystery of the causes of Alzheimer’s (dementia).  So far, despite massive research – little progress.

      Now, comes a breakthrough from King’s College, London – from a direction thought highly unlikely.

     “New research has identified links between gut bacteria, inflammation and brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease”, Kings College notes.

      “For the first time, researchers have found that Alzheimer’s symptoms can be transferred to a healthy young organism via the gut microbiota, confirming its role in the disease.   The study supports the emergence of the gut microbiome (the collection of bacteria that permanently dwell in our digestive tract)  as a key target for investigation in Alzheimer’s disease due to its particular susceptibility to lifestyle and environmental influences.  Alzheimer’s patients had a higher abundance of inflammation-promoting bacteria in faecal samples, and these changes were directly associated with their cognitive status.   This study represents an important step forward in our understanding of the disease, confirming that the make-up of our gut microbiota has a causal role in the development of the disease”..

Scientists and medical researchers know that a first step to curing a disease is often finding its core causes – and if possible, instigating the disease in the lab.    This was the key to Prof. Ruth Arnon’s discovery of copaxone, which began when she found a way to initiate multiple sclerosis in lab animals. 

  It makes sense. Our microbiome is impacted by our lifestyle – and so is Alzheimer’s.

   Hopefully,  this new finding will lead researchers to finding ways to prevent and/or heal Alzheimer’s.   I have a keen personal interest in this topic,  as I turn 81.   

      Grabrucker, S., Marizzoni, M., Silajdžić, E., Lopizzo, N., Mombelli, E., Nicolas, S., … & Nolan, Y. M. (2023). Microbiota from Alzheimer’s patients induce deficits in cognition and hippocampal neurogenesis. Brain, awad303.