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> In other news, Alzheimer's patients breathe oxygen and drink water. Beware! This very remark undermines your snark. We clearly would not look at 'breathes ai

> In other news, Alzheimer's patients breathe oxygen and drink water. Beware! This very remark undermines your snark. We clearly would not look at 'breathes air" or 'drinks water,' precisely because these are factors that are common in the population between those who do and those who do not develop Alzheimer's. It is, in fact, the very fact that the factors that the grandparent mentioned "don't belong in the brain" that is interesting, and suggestive of models other than, for example, "Alzheimer's is an isolated, simple condition that is relatively unaffected by confounds." It is these very same correlations that can lead us to the likely rocks to turn over, and that is where the newsworthiness and interest derives. Everybody knows about correlation and causation. It's possibly not causative, for example, but seems to be correlative that people who snark about correlation and causation tend to shoot themselves in the feet with their sarcasm. I sure know where I'll look for a deeper explanation, though!

craftyguy 8y ago
> precisely because these are factors that are common in the population Herpes is also extremely common in the human population (cold sores, anyone?) so I fail to see how this somehow proves your point.
- swsieber 8y ago
  But Herpes in the brain isn't common in the human population.
  - theothermkn 8y ago
    craftyguy truncated the comment. "...common in the population between..." those who do and those who do not. I was talking about the water and breathing comment, clearly meaning that both the diseased and the unaffected have the behaviors of drinking water and breathing air in common. It's not absolute frequency that matters, but a difference in frequency between the diseased and the disease-free that is potentially explanatory.
  - tomhoward 8y ago
    > The team found that levels of two human herpes viruses, HHV-6 and HHV-7, were up to twice as high in brain tissue from people with Alzheimer's. Yes, HHV-6 is common throughout the population, including in the brain. It's an endogenous retrovirus, so is inherited via DNA, or is easily transmitted from person to person, particularly in childhood. The issue is severity, not presence. By the way, the variants of herpes in question are HHV-6/7, which are different to the herpes simplex viruses (HSV1/2) that cause cold sores and skin breakouts.

craftyguy 8y ago

> precisely because these are factors that are common in the population Herpes is also extremely common in the human population (cold sores, anyone?) so I fail to see how this somehow proves your point.

swsieber 8y ago
But Herpes in the brain isn't common in the human population.
- theothermkn 8y ago
  craftyguy truncated the comment. "...common in the population between..." those who do and those who do not. I was talking about the water and breathing comment, clearly meaning that both the diseased and the unaffected have the behaviors of drinking water and breathing air in common. It's not absolute frequency that matters, but a difference in frequency between the diseased and the disease-free that is potentially explanatory.
- tomhoward 8y ago
  > The team found that levels of two human herpes viruses, HHV-6 and HHV-7, were up to twice as high in brain tissue from people with Alzheimer's. Yes, HHV-6 is common throughout the population, including in the brain. It's an endogenous retrovirus, so is inherited via DNA, or is easily transmitted from person to person, particularly in childhood. The issue is severity, not presence. By the way, the variants of herpes in question are HHV-6/7, which are different to the herpes simplex viruses (HSV1/2) that cause cold sores and skin breakouts.