Page 13 - IAV Digital Magazine #585

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Constipation Doubles Probability Of Alzheimer's Disease: Study
By Lee Hae-rin
Constipation could double the probability of get- ting Alzheimer’s disease, accord- ing to a survey released on Friday.
The research
team, led by Prof. Kim Tae of Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, announced that its joint study with the team of Prof. Yon Dong-keon of Kyung Hee University Medical Center
revealed the association between reduced intestinal mobility and increased risk of Alzheimer’s dis- ease.
Before reaching the conclusion, the researchers
carried out rele- vant experiments on mice.
After confirming reduced intestinal mobility in the mice, the researchers then injected an anti- diarrheal sub- stance into the
mice to check how they would be affected by even slower intes- tinal mobility.
The injection of the anti-diarrheal medicine, called Loperamide, showed impaired memory functions due to an increase in amy- loid beta protein level in the brain. Amyloid beta pro- tein is the main component of neuritic plaque in Alzheimer's dis- ease.
Also, the study analyzed 3.13 million Korean and 4.38 million Japanese nation- als, and found that Alzheimer’s disease is respec- tively 2.04 times (for the Korean subjects) and 2.82 times (for the Japanese subjects) more likely to occur in
people with con- stipation than people without any digestive dis- order.
“The study showed the asso- ciation between intestinal motility and Alzheimer’s disease from vari- ous angles through a combi- nation of basic research and clin- ical research," Kim said. "The study could back up the concept of the gut-brain axis, which is the phys- ical and chemical connection between the cen- tral nervous sys- tem and the gas- trointestinal tract."
The study was published online in the Journal of Advanced Research on Dec. 13, an internation- al open-access peer-reviewed journal.
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