Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Constipation doubles probability of Alzheimer's disease: study
Gettyimagesbank
By Lee Hae-rin
Constipation could double the probability of getting Alzheimer’s disease, according 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 disease.
Before reaching the conclusion, the researchers carried out relevant experiments on mice.
After confirming reduced intestinal mobility in the mice, the researchers then injected an anti-diarrheal substance into the mice to check how they would be affected by even slower intestinal mobility.
The injection of the anti-diarrheal medicine, called Loperamide, showed impaired memory functions due to an increase in amyloid beta protein level in the brain. Amyloid beta protein is the main component of neuritic plaque in Alzheimer's disease.
Also, the study analyzed 3.13 million Korean and 4.38 million Japanese nationals, and found that Alzheimer’s disease is respectively 2.04 times (for the Korean subjects) and 2.82 times (for the Japanese subjects) more likely to occur in people with constipation than people without any digestive disorder.
“The study showed the association between intestinal motility and Alzheimer’s disease from various angles through a combination of basic research and clinical research," Kim said. "The study could back up the concept of the gut-brain axis, which is the physical and chemical connection between the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract."
The study was published online in the Journal of Advanced Research on Dec. 13, an international open-access peer-reviewed journal.