Infection and injury may hasten dementia progress
Infections and injuries that cause inflammation in the brain could accelerate the decline of dementia patients, according to new research by British and Irish scientists. The findings have implications for the treatment and care of those with dementia. Scientists have known for some time that infections (particularly in the urinary tract), injury and surgery can all trigger episodes of delirium in the elderly and patients with dementia. During these episodes, patients become extremely disoriented and confused. However, until now there has been relatively little research into the impacts of infections and injury on dementia patients in the longer term. In previous studies, the team of researchers had demonstrated that infection-induced inflammation could exacerbate nerve cell damage in animals with dementia. In this latest study, scientists triggered an inflammatory response in mice suffering from neurodegenerative disease. The inflammation led to a decline in the condition of the mice, whose memory and learning skills significantly worsened. What's more, these effects could be seen after just one bout of inflammation. 'Our study clearly shows the damaging effect of systemic infection or inflammation in animal models of dementia,' commented Dr Colm Cunningham of Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. The findings have important implications for those involved in the care of people with dementia. 'Doctors and carers need to pay increased attention to protect people with dementia from potential causes of systemic inflammation,' recommended Dr Cunningham. 'These include preventing infection, protecting them against falls and carefully weighing up the risk-benefit ratio of non-essential surgery.' The researchers also found that inflammation leads to the production of a protein called IL-1beta in the hippocampus, the part of the brain involved in memory and learning. This protein is known to exacerbate nerve damage during strokes, and increased levels of IL-1beta in the blood have previously been linked to cognitive decline. 'The recognition that relatively banal systemic inflammatory events can interact with and exacerbate neurodegenerative processes in the brain opens up potential avenues of treatment for patients with dementia,' said Dr Cunningham. 'This is really interesting research leading to a significant step forward in our understanding of dementia,' added Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust. 'Inflammation has been implicated in dementia for some time, which is why falls are of such concern, but this also shows that the dementia is increased by another common problem of ageing - urinary tract and other infections.' Some five million people in Europe suffer from dementia, and this figure is likely to rise further as the population ages.
Countries
Ireland, United Kingdom