4 ms·

Thanks for all the info! Would you mind expanding in the valacyclovir lifetime treatment? What is that? If you never notice any active infections then you th

Thanks for all the info! Would you mind expanding in the valacyclovir lifetime treatment? What is that? If you never notice any active infections then you think you’re pretty safe?

eganist 8y ago
Not a doctor; can't give you medical advice. Just giving deductions I'm making based on current research which could all play out to be very, very wrong. Valacyclovir is brand-named Valtrex. Basically, if you're ever diagnosed with herpes of any variant, you should ask your doctor about what to expect if you go on Valacyclovir to ward off recurring outbreaks. If those side effects don't sound disagreeable to you v. the possible mitigation of dementia/alzheimer's, then it might make sense to go on it. The risk reduction study (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322463.php https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322463.php) focused on a population which had specifically been diagnosed.
- mrfusion 8y ago
  Thanks. What’s your take on this article: https://jeffreydachmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Efficacy-of-antiVZV-antiHSV3-vaccine-HSV1-HSV2-recurrent-herpes-simplex-Jacqueline-Le-Goaster-2012.pdf https://jeffreydachmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Efficac... Maybe you should get this vaccine instead of valtrex? Or both?
  - eganist 8y ago
    I've got the former. I'd personally still also do the latter. Consider me paranoid, but if diagnosed, I'm sold on the side effects of a lifetime of valacyclovir being far less inconvenient than a descent into oblivion.
  - colordrops 8y ago
    Wait, is that a cure for herpes?
    - eganist 8y ago
      No, sadly. Just a vaccine for varicella.
      - colordrops 8y ago
        So how do you explain the results: "Results: From 2005 through 2011, for the 24 anti-VZV vaccinated patients, the average number of herpes relapses decreased to 0, correlated with an increased anti-VZV antibody level and clinical recovery of all patients, whereas no improvement was observed for the 26 nonvaccinated herpes patients."
        eganist 8y ago
        A cure for herpes means the excision of viral DNA from the infected cells. Herpes is one of those viruses that stays with a person for life by means of establishing persistence with DNA insertion. Because of this, any cure will probably rely on CRISPR/Cas9 or variants of this process. E.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29844277 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29844277 What you're drawing attention to there, if I'm reading it correctly, is that the presence of the antibodies resulting from the vaccine enables an immune response to consistently check an outbreak just as it's starting, potentially mitigating an outbreak before one becomes visibly apparent. But I'm probably not reading it correctly. All I'm confident in is that anything short of literally cutting the viral DNA out of the infected cells won't actually cure an infection.
        colordrops 8y ago
        This isn't a rigorous scientific forum. Definition of "cure": verb 1. relieve (a person or animal) of the symptoms of a disease or condition. "he was cured of the disease" synonyms: heal, restore to health, make well/better; archaic: cleanse "after a long course of treatment, he was cured" I'm referring to the colloquial usage of "cure", which is all anyone cares about in this context. Who cares if the DNA is there if the symptoms are completely gone?

Thanks for all the info! Would you mind expanding in the valacyclovir lifetime treatment? What is that? If you never notice any active infections then you think you’re pretty safe?

eganist 8y ago

Not a doctor; can't give you medical advice. Just giving deductions I'm making based on current research which could all play out to be very, very wrong. Valacyclovir is brand-named Valtrex. Basically, if you're ever diagnosed with herpes of any variant, you should ask your doctor about what to expect if you go on Valacyclovir to ward off recurring outbreaks. If those side effects don't sound disagreeable to you v. the possible mitigation of dementia/alzheimer's, then it might make sense to go on it. The risk reduction study (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322463.php https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322463.php) focused on a population which had specifically been diagnosed.

mrfusion 8y ago
Thanks. What’s your take on this article: https://jeffreydachmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Efficacy-of-antiVZV-antiHSV3-vaccine-HSV1-HSV2-recurrent-herpes-simplex-Jacqueline-Le-Goaster-2012.pdf https://jeffreydachmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Efficac... Maybe you should get this vaccine instead of valtrex? Or both?
- eganist 8y ago
  I've got the former. I'd personally still also do the latter. Consider me paranoid, but if diagnosed, I'm sold on the side effects of a lifetime of valacyclovir being far less inconvenient than a descent into oblivion.
- colordrops 8y ago
  Wait, is that a cure for herpes?
  - eganist 8y ago
    No, sadly. Just a vaccine for varicella.
    - colordrops 8y ago
      So how do you explain the results: "Results: From 2005 through 2011, for the 24 anti-VZV vaccinated patients, the average number of herpes relapses decreased to 0, correlated with an increased anti-VZV antibody level and clinical recovery of all patients, whereas no improvement was observed for the 26 nonvaccinated herpes patients."
      - eganist 8y ago
        A cure for herpes means the excision of viral DNA from the infected cells. Herpes is one of those viruses that stays with a person for life by means of establishing persistence with DNA insertion. Because of this, any cure will probably rely on CRISPR/Cas9 or variants of this process. E.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29844277 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29844277 What you're drawing attention to there, if I'm reading it correctly, is that the presence of the antibodies resulting from the vaccine enables an immune response to consistently check an outbreak just as it's starting, potentially mitigating an outbreak before one becomes visibly apparent. But I'm probably not reading it correctly. All I'm confident in is that anything short of literally cutting the viral DNA out of the infected cells won't actually cure an infection.
        colordrops 8y ago
        This isn't a rigorous scientific forum. Definition of "cure": verb 1. relieve (a person or animal) of the symptoms of a disease or condition. "he was cured of the disease" synonyms: heal, restore to health, make well/better; archaic: cleanse "after a long course of treatment, he was cured" I'm referring to the colloquial usage of "cure", which is all anyone cares about in this context. Who cares if the DNA is there if the symptoms are completely gone?