You may do it mindlessly in your car or be caught doing it at your desk, but the seemingly innocent act of “digging for gold” can have serious health consequences.
A recent one study published in the journal Biomolecules found a link between nose picking and the memory-robbing condition Alzheimer’s disease.
When a person picks their nose, bacteria, viruses and fungi can enter the brain, increasing the chance of developing dementia, the study suggested.
The Australian researchers wrote that external pathogens that enter the nasal cavity when someone picks their nose, a habit that 91 percent of Americans have, can cause harmful pathogens to travel to the brain, leading to inflammation.
Inflammation caused by germs has been shown to cause a harmful build-up of amyloid beta proteins, a hallmark feature in the brains of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Some of the pathogens believed to play a role in causing harmful neuroinflammations include the herpes virus, the bacteria that causes pneumonia, the coronavirus, and the Candida albicans fungi.
The memory-robbing disease is characterized by a buildup of harmful protein deposits in the brain, known as amyloid beta. When the brain becomes inflamed, it expresses an amyloid precursor protein that can build up in clumps and affect healthy brain cells.
The Australian researchers said chronic nose picking, scientifically known as rhinotillexomania, can increase the transfer of harmful microorganisms from a person’s hand to the nose, changing the nasal microbiome from a beneficial environment to a potentially harmful one.
“Neuroinflammation in AD may be caused in part by viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens that enter the brain through the nose and olfactory system,” they wrote.
The change in the nasal microbiome – a collection of healthy bacteria that naturally occur in the body – could impact chronic, mild brain infections that stem from the olfactory system.
This system is the body network responsible for a person’s sense of smell. The system includes nerves, an olfactory bulb, and an olfactory tract located at the base of the brain.
Sticking germ-covered hands up your nose allows potentially dangerous bacteria to enter the nose and travel through the canal, where it can eventually reach the brain.
Once there, it can contribute to inflammation and the development of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.
The Western Sydney University team who reviewed hundreds of studies said: ‘Of all entry points, improving hand hygiene could be an easy prevention step, as learned from the COVID-19 epidemic.
“One of the lessons we have learned from COVID-19 is the value of hand hygiene through frequent hand washing and the use of hand sanitizers, and we propose that these routine hygiene procedures be mandatory routine procedures for the incurable nose picker.”
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia worldwide, affecting an estimated 6.7 million Americans aged 65 and older.
The exact origins of the disease are still being studied, but scientists have pointed to a buildup of amyloid plaques and tangles in the brain of a protein called tau.
When the brain comes into contact with an external pathogen carried through the nose with a finger, it responds by producing substances that trigger an immune response.
These cause brain inflammation.
Once the brain is inflamed, immune cells that specifically defend the central nervous system, called microglia, begin making proteins that accumulate over time and form plaques, a hallmark of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Nose picking introduces pathogens into the nasal cavity, where they can enter the brain by crossing the protective blood-brain barrier and cause inflammation in the brain
Changes in humor and increased swearing are all signs of Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a form of dementia that causes problems with behavior and language
Infectious agents can survive in the nasal cavity for extended periods of time without causing symptoms until they enter the brain. This means that it can take years between a pathogen entering the body and the development of symptoms of dementia.
Several specific pathogens have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, including the herpes simplex virus, the pneumonia-causing bacterium Chlamydia pneumoniae, fungi such as Candida albicans, and parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii.
In one study included in the researchers’ review, scientists infected mice through their noses with Chlamydia pneumonia. Within 72 hours, the bacteria had spread to the mouse’s olfactory system.
About a month later, the team discovered build-ups of amyloid plaques near where the bacteria were located in the body and discovered that the C. pneumoniae caused the breakdown of genes linked to proteins linked to the disease Alzheimer’s.
The researchers concluded that the study “directly links” plaque formation to pathogens entering through the nose.
The link between Alzheimer’s disease and the herpes simplex virus is specifically related to the gene that predisposes people to Alzheimer’s disease, known as APOE4.
Another study cited by the Australians found approx 60 percent of individuals who carry the APOE4 gene and have Alzheimer’s disease also had the herpes simplex virus in their brains.
In addition, the coronavirus can enter through the nasal cavity and cross the blood-brain barrier, a network of blood vessels and tissues that serves as a protective layer in the brain.
Once past that barrier, pathogens can infect the central nervous system.
The researchers also said that common fungi such as Candida, Malassezia, Cladosporium and Alternaria have been found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
The fungi are usually harmless, but can cause infections in people with weakened immune systems.
Candida has specifically been found to be able to invade the brain and create clusters of cells that collect proteins that can cause a harmful buildup of amyloid beta.
According to one of the few studies to examine the matter, a 1995 survey sent to 1,000 adults in Wisconsin found 91 percent admitted picking their nose.
When asked why, most of them said it was to relieve the itching or to remove ‘dirt’.
Aside from the risk of dementia, the habit is generally unsafe.
A 2006 study found that nose pickers examined at an ear, nose and throat clinic were more likely to have the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, responsible for staph infections and bloodstream infections, in their nostrils than non-pickers.
In one case, a 66-year-old woman with a long history of nose picking was repeatedly hospitalized due to a type of bacteria known to cause skin and tissue infections, as well as pneumonia and bloodstream infections, called Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). . ).
The patient suffered from recurrent infections, such as sepsis, meningitis, endocarditis, cystitis and discitis, as MSSA was believed to have entered her body through the nasal cavity.
The comprehensive review was published in the journal Biomolecules and was funded by a huge private donation to Western Sydney University.
The study was republished by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the main federal agency responsible for public health research.