A groundbreaking discovery by a new research consortium suggests that certain cases of dementia are caused by fungal or bacterial infections in the brain, and for some patients, the damage may even be reversible.
One of the key figures behind this research, which was published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia, Nikki Schultek - a former pharmaceutical representative turned researcher - shared her personal story with The Guardian. In her early 30s, Schultek experienced a debilitating array of symptoms, including cognitive difficulties and heart arrhythmia.
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After undergoing tests for multiple sclerosis and various medical scans, she and her doctors identified the root cause: concurrent chronic infections, including Lyme disease caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which had invaded her brain.
While antibiotics helped reduce the infection, Schultek continues to require ongoing treatment, as brain infections are notoriously difficult to fully eradicate. This experience motivated her to establish the Alzheimer’s Pathobiome Initiative, a research group dedicated to exploring the connection between bacterial or fungal infections and dementia or cognitive impairment.
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The consortium includes researchers from esteemed institutions such as Cambridge, Heidelberg, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Oxford’s Institute of Population Ageing. Unlike Schultek, who holds a marketing degree from Villanova University, many of her colleagues are medical professionals with extensive academic and clinical expertise.
In the study, Schultek and her team identified numerous cases where patients exhibiting dementia-like symptoms were diagnosed with brain infections. Remarkably, when these infections were treated with antiviral or antifungal medications, the cognitive symptoms often improved.
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Richard Lathe, a molecular biologist from the University of Edinburgh and co-author of the paper, explained that many patients discovered this link by chance. Their dementia symptoms diminished or disappeared after being treated for infections with antiviral or antifungal medications.
While the theory challenges the conventional medical understanding of dementia, researchers are still uncertain about the proportion of dementia and Alzheimer’s cases caused by these infections. Lathe estimates that while it’s unlikely to account for all cases, as much as half—or potentially more—of dementia cases could be treatable.
If confirmed through further research, it would mean that many cases of dementia could be reversed with medication—an outcome that would revolutionize our approach to these devastating cognitive disorders, Lathe noted.
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Dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death globally and is a significant contributor to disability and dependency among older adults, according to the World Health Organization. Approximately 60% of individuals with dementia reside in low- and middle-income countries.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia
As of 2021, over 55 million people worldwide are living with dementia, with nearly 10 million new cases emerging each year. This number is projected to rise to 78 million by 2030 and 139 million by 2050.
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