ArticleNeuro-degenerative diseases2025
Risk of Developing Alzheimer Disease in Relation to Common Infections.
Article in Neuro-degenerative diseases, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Data-driven subtyping of Alzheimer's emergency presentations using unsupervised machine learning.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2026Article
- Interconnected pathways: Social determinants of health, infections, and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.)Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
introductionMany studies demonstrate positive associations between infections and Alzheimer disease (AD), suggesting that brain and/or systemic inflammation may impact AD pathogenesis. However, studies of meningitis and AD risk have been limited to animal models or small human cohorts in the USA. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between incident AD and three different types of infections (meningitis, pneumonia, and urinary tract infections [UTIs]) using a population-based sample of US Medicare beneficiaries.
methodsWe created a case-control dataset by frequency matching 4:1 (control:case) by age group, sex, and month/year of the date of AD diagnosis or control selection date. We identified 52,628 newly diagnosed AD cases and 210,512 population-based controls ≥67 years of age using comprehensive Medicare claims data from 2016 to 2018. We classified infections using ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes. We used logistic regression to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate the association between AD and each infection separately. We lagged exposures up to 18 months and examined hospitalization or comorbid sepsis as a proxy for infection severity. Covariates included age, sex, race/ethnicity, and health care utilization.
resultsAD was positively associated with meningitis in individuals hospitalized without superimposed sepsis with a 6-month lag (OR = 2.713, 95% CI: 1.277-5.764), and UTIs without superimposed sepsis with an 18-month lag (OR = 1.231, 95% CI: 1.101-1.376), and with superimposed sepsis with an 18-month lag (OR = 1.388, 95% CI: 1.050-1.835). There was no association between AD and pneumonia in individuals hospitalized with or without superimposed sepsis. When examining infections that occurred in the outpatient setting, the association between AD and UTI remained positive yet attenuated at all time points, however, the association became inverse between AD and pneumonia.
conclusionMore severe infections, particularly meningitis, may be associated with a higher risk of AD, due to either unmasking of prodromal AD or acceleration of AD pathogenesis in susceptible individuals.
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