Picking your nose is not only a gross habit, but it could be causing you to have a higher risk of dementia, researchers have warned.
The habit spreads bacteria, which could further increase the brain degenerative disease.
As we get older our brains begin to shrink, but in Alzheimer’s disease the changes seen in the brain are far more different from the changes seen in normal ageing.
Alzheimer's disease affects around six in every 10 people with dementia in the UK.
While dementia is a general term, Alzheimer's disease is a specific brain disease.
A study published in the journal Scientific Reports found the damaging effects the habit could have on the olfactory nerve in the nose.
According to the research - which was performed on mice - bacteria that travels through the nose nerve could reach the brain where it creates markers which are a “tell-tale sign of Alzheimer’s.”
The researchers at Griffith University demonstrated that the bacteria Chlamydia pneumoniae could travel from picking your nose and reach the brain via the olfactory canal.
Professor James St John, head of the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research, is a co-author of the world-first research.
“We’re the first to show that Chlamydia pneumoniae can go directly up the nose and into the brain where it can set off pathologies that look like Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.
“We saw this happen in a mouse model, and the evidence is potentially scary for humans as well.”
“We need to do this study in humans and confirm whether the same pathway operates in the same way. It’s research that has been proposed by many people, but not yet completed,” he added.
“What we do know is that these same bacteria are present in humans, but we haven’t worked out how they get there.”
Prof St John and his team also noted that a loss of smell can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s, and suggesting smell tests for patients aged 60 and up could be used as an early detector.
Early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
Signs of the brain disease may include:
- Memory loss
- Poor judgment
- Loss of spontaneity and sense of initiative
- Losing track of dates or knowing current location
- Taking longer to complete normal daily tasks
- Repeating questions or forgetting recently learned information
- Trouble handling money and paying bills
- Challenges in planning or solving problems
- Wandering and getting lost
- Losing things or misplacing them in odd places
- Difficulty completing tasks such as bathing
- Mood and personality changes
- Increased anxiety and/or aggression.
“Once you get over 65 years old, your risk factor goes right up, but we’re looking at other causes as well, because it’s not just age — it is environmental exposure as well,” concluded the professor, adding that bacteria and viruses are critical when it comes the brain degenerative disease.
“Picking your nose and plucking the hairs from your nose are not a good idea. We don’t want to damage the inside of our nose and picking and plucking can do that.
“If you damage the lining of the nose, you can increase how many bacteria can go up into your brain.”
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