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Alzheimer's can be triggered by fungi
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
A team of scientists from Spain have identified fungi in the brains of people suffering from Alzheimer's, leading to the suggestion that the disease may be infectious in nature.
At a Spanish state university, researchers found mold and yeast in the vessels and gray matter of patients that were not found in patients without this pathology. According to experts, the symptoms of Alzheimer's are quite consistent with a fungal infection, and fungi, in turn, can be provoking factors for neurodegenerative disorders in the brain.
Recently, scientists from Britain also suggested that Alzheimer's is not associated with the aging of the body or gene mutations, but can be transmitted during surgical interventions, blood transfusions or during dental treatment.
Spanish researchers studied the bodies of deceased people who suffered from Alzheimer's during their lifetime and found several types of fungi in their brains. This, scientists believe, is the reason for the different symptoms in different patients, as well as the slow development and involvement of the immune system. Also, the infectious nature of Alzheimer's may explain why all the drugs developed against this disease have been ineffective. Researchers believe that antifungal drugs can help people suffering from this disease.
But experts still have a lot of work to do before a cause-and-effect relationship between the development of Alzheimer's and the appearance of fungus in brain tissue is established (at present, there is no evidence that fungi provoke neurodegenerative disorders). Scientists noted that it is possible that the fungus may appear against the background of the progression of the disease, and is a consequence, not a cause of the disease.
A number of experts have noted that with Alzheimer's, the brain's protective barrier is weakened and various infections, including fungi, can easily penetrate the brain.
Another research group linked the development of Alzheimer's with viruses and bacteria, in particular those that cause herpes and pneumonia. But until now, the cause of the pathology is considered to be protein deposits in the brain, which disrupts neural connections.
While scientists are trying to figure out the cause of Alzheimer's in order to create effective drugs against this disease, a team of scientists at one of the universities of Southern California has developed a small prosthesis that will help with memory impairment.
The small device is a set of electrodes and is transplanted into the brain. The animal testing phase was successful, and scientists are planning to conduct an experiment involving volunteers.
In Alzheimer's, people's hippocampus is damaged and they do not remember recent events, but they remember the past well. The prosthesis allows information to be delivered to the long-term memory area, bypassing the damaged area, i.e. it helps restore the process of creating long-term memories and significantly improve the quality of life of Alzheimer's patients.