What is Rhinotillexomania? How nose picking may lead to Alzheimer's disease, explained

The term Rhinotillexomania is used to refer to a condition of compulsive nose picking. This habit is recognized as a psychiatric disorder. Some people who typically pick their noses out of a condition such as nervousness, boredom, or to get rid of the dried mucus, differ from a person with rhinotillexomania.

The latter would feel a compulsion to pick their nose. Someone with this condition might also go through severe anxiety, and stress, and engage in other similar psychiatric disorders such as nail-biting.

This condition is co-related with other recurring conditions such as anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and similar compulsive habits like skin or cuticle picking.

While picking one’s nose occasionally might be harmless, rhinotillexomania could cause certain damages. People with this condition will likely spend an inordinate amount of time picking their noses. Some even do it to the point of injuring their noses and disrupting their daily functioning. One of the risks of this compulsive disorder includes Alzheimer’s, as per studies.

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How compulsive nose picking or Rhinotillexomania may lead to Alzheimer's?

In a recent report published in the Biomolecules journal late last year, evidence was collected that those who frequently engage in the act of nose picking, may potentially develop Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at Australia’s Western Sydney University compiled reviews of multiple published studies on this matter in the report. They wrote:

“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.”

Germs can enter the sensitive nasal cavity through rhinotillexomania or chronic nose picking and can cause swellings in the brain. Inflammation has been considered one of the onsets of the neurodegenerative disease, Alzheimer’s.

Researchers are not certain what causes this disease. However, they observed the development of a protein named tau in the brains of patients. This protein is linked to the body’s immune response.

Scientists believe that inflammation, which is one sort of stress on the body can be formed when the immune cells are frequently triggered by invasions. These inflammations can lead to various ailments.

In the latest report, the authors supported this theory. They suggested that an overgrowth of germs can cause shifts in the nasal environment, which in turn could be the source of mild yet chronic brain infections.

These infections might not show external symptoms but they do cause swellings below the surface. It leaves behind harmful protein plaques which contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Thus, the habit of nose picking can pose a risk of developing Alzheimer’s in the future. To reduce the risk, everyone is advised to wash their hands regularly and practice hand hygiene. Practicing this can prevent the unintentional exposure of the brain and olfactory system to harmful agents that cause inflammation.