Unfortunately my mom passed away about 8 years ago from Alzheimer’s disease. It was a challenging and very heart wrenching experience to witness a loved one’s mind deteriorate, especially when they were skilled in areas like working with numbers. My mom’s career consisted of working with numbers, checks and keeping books. The first sign something was going wrong was when she had forgotten how calculate the numbers. She knew something with her brain was not right and made a doctors appointment. She seemed to pass all tests she was given the must be stress related diagnosis. As time went on of course we realized stress was not the case.

Here’s the way it was explained to me. So,  I’ll help to break down the information about the study for an easy understanding:

Imagine your brain is like a supercomputer, and it needs to function smoothly to perform tasks like problem solving, remembering things, and even like my mom, handling numbers. Alzheimer’s disease is like a virus that attacks this supercomputer, causing it to slow down and eventually malfunction.

There’s a surprising twist to this study but before I reveal this twist, just let me point out that my mom was not a nose picker. She would slap our hands down if we picked our nose without a tissue! This study done by Western Sydney University suggests that frequent nose-picking might increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. It sounds strange, right? What does one have to do with the other?

According to Griffith News when people pick their noses a lot, they introduce germs into their nasal cavity—the space inside your nose. This can lead to inflammation, which is like a small fire inside your brain. This inflammation has been linked to the start of Alzheimer’s disease. So, it’s like adding fuel to the fire that’s already causing trouble in your supercomputer. I guess it’s kind of like getting crumbs in your keyboard and messing up the insides of your laptop.

My mom was someone who worked with numbers and kept books throughout her career. It’s heartbreaking to see someone who was so good with numbers forget how to work with them due to Alzheimer’s. It’s like watching the functions of the supercomputer slowly fade away, and it was so tough for me and my family.

To prevent this, researchers recommend something simple: regular hand-washing. Just like when we washed our hands to death to avoid Covid, keeping our hands clean can help prevent germs from getting into the nasal cavity and causing inflammation in the brain. The inflammation has been linked to the onset for Alzheimer’s.

Since it’s my sad story about what I experienced with Alzheimer’s, I had to share this new finding with the connection to nose-picking. I could have never imagined that the two had anything to do with one another. It’s a reminder of how important it is to take care of our brains and the simple steps we can take to protect ourselves and our loved ones from the challenges of diseases like Alzheimer’s.