You can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your pathogens.

A review of dozens of published studies into the mechanisms behind neurological diseases has collected strong evidence that people who frequently pick their noses are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

The new report, compiled and written by researchers at Western Sydney University, was published in the journal Biomolecules late last year.

“Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease might be partially caused by viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens entering the brain through the nose and the olfactory system,” they wrote in the report.

Chronic nose-picking, medically known as rhinotillexomania, introduces germs into the sensitive nasal cavity that cause inflammation in the brain, which has been linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

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Over 6 million people are living with the neurodegenerative disease, predominantly affecting those age 65 and older.

Scientists still aren’t precisely sure what causes Alzheimer’s disease, but in the brains of patients they have observed a buildup of a protein called tau, which is associated with the body’s immune response.

Continue here: NYP