A reassuring study conducted by the Italian National Research Council suggests that people with Alzheimer’s disease or less risk of catching cancer and vice versa. By going through the medical records of more than a million patients between 2004 and 2009, Italian scientists found that only 161 of them had been affected by the two diseases, a rather low number.
By extrapolating these figures, the researchers estimate that a patient with Alzheimer’s disease would have half the risk of developing a cancerous tumor, and people affected by cancer would have a risk of being struck by the disease. Alzheimer’s reduced by 35%.
The reasons for the “protective” effect of one disease compared to the other are not yet known. However, for Professor Massimo Musico, responsible for this study, “it is not surprising that the two diseases are not found in the same individual. Indeed, he explains, “cancer is described as an overgrowth of cells, whereas Alzheimer’s does the exact opposite and prevents neurons from developing”.
The team intends to continue its research to discover the origin of the link between the two diseases.