Search This Blog

Sunday, September 08, 2013

Asepsis and Dementia: Can there be a possible interaction?

I have always been taught by my parents the virtues of staying clean and maintaining a good hygiene all through out my life. Being a Muslim, we have to offer prayers 5 times a day. But these cannot be offered without the ablutions. So that means we need to cleanse ourselves at least five times in the day. 
Being a doctor, our professors have always harped on the compulsory aseptic precautions, be it the out patient department, regular routine rounds, or the peri operative wash up.  
The benefits of cleanliness are endless. 
Thus, when my hospital staff showed me this news clipping, I was taken aback. 

Shocking but true. 

An obsession with being too clean and hygienic could lead to a higher risk of dementia, researchers have warned.

Researchers say that people living in wealthier countries may be at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in the journal Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health.
The researchers suggested the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ was behind the difference. This is the theory that an excessively clean lifestyle doesn't allow us to develop immunity levels and thus we are unable to combat many germs.

Results of the analysis revealed that countries with higher levels of sanitation and those with significantly lower rates of infectious disease also had higher rates of Alzheimer's disease.   

Shocking but true.

Thus, I would conclude on this note that   the people suffering from OCDs (Obsessive Compulsive disorders), who repeatedly get the urge to wash and clean themselves, are in for a rude shock. They now have to deal with another neurological issue - Dementia. 

8 comments: