5 ms·

There are many theories about the cause of Alzheimer's. Previously on HN: - Alzheimer's is caused by dirty air. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18230932

There are many theories about the cause of Alzheimer's. Previously on HN: - Alzheimer's is caused by dirty air. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18230932 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18230932 - Alzheimer's is caused by lack of sleep. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18228627 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18228627 - Alzheimer's is a form of diabetes. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4578267 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4578267 - Alzheimer's is caused by herpes. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18265115 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18265115 Also, brain damage is a result of Alzheimer's, not a cause.

shittyadmin 8y ago
Holy shit, I thought you were joking but most of those were in the last 2 weeks.
- eganist 8y ago
  Right? And if you extrapolate research like the sleep deprivation research further out, it ties in pretty well with the thinking that sleep deprivation keeps the brain from clearing the byproducts of a fight against herpes reactivation. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17945738 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17945738)
  - stephengillie 8y ago
    Herpes is a normal virus, for the most part. The key mutation that makes it so annoying is its time-release capsules to reinfect cells every so often. So which "byproducts" are cleaned out?
    - eganist 8y ago
      Assuming the working theory from one of my previous citations on beta amyloid is correct, it's the beta amyloid produced to entangle the herpes virus in the brain that's cleaned out nightly by sleep. Edit: Less sleep -> more beta amyloid link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16026655 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16026655 Beta amyloyd -> herpes entanglement: https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30526-9 https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30526-9 None of this is definitive, mind you, but as each new bit of research comes out, a new piece of the puzzle appears to be put in place. Ultimately the question ends up being answered by a more comprehensive wide-scale experimental study tracking herpes mitigations of any sort and any possible reduction in alzheimer's occurrences, basically a larger version of this: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322463.php https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322463.php
      - stephengillie 8y ago
        Do you have any information about beta amyloid that doesn't involve Alzheimer's? I wanted to learn about the enzyme itself. Filtering "-Alzheimer's" on Google provides no articles, merely fact sheets and ordering forms.
        eganist 8y ago
        Honestly, the only thing I'd ever seen addressing the protein in a manner tangential to Alz was the herpes entanglement research (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26836158 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26836158). Wikipedia might have good references as a starting point though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyloid_beta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyloid_beta
        stephengillie 8y ago
        Wikipedia: The normal function of Aβ is not well understood.[7] Most of the page is dedicated to the Alzheimer's connection. Even that quote came from Alzheimer's research. [7]Hiltunen M, van Groen T, Jolkkonen J (2009). "Functional roles of amyloid-beta protein precursor and amyloid-beta peptides: evidence from experimental studies". Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 18 (2): 401–12. doi:10.3233/JAD-2009-1154. PMID 19584429.
        eganist 8y ago
        Yeah, that seems to be the older understanding. We've now got two studies pointing to the role of beta amyloid as being substantially tied to tangling either herpes virus particles specifically or potentially pathogens in the brain more generally. Linked previously but I'll link again: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26836158 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26836158 dated 22 Feb 2016 https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30526-9 https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30526-9 dated 11 Jul 2018 These seem to reference Alzheimer's only in passing or potentially in relation to the infectious theory, but they specifically speak to the action of Beta Amyloid.
adrianN 8y ago
I wouldn't be surprised if eventually we'll figure that what we call "Alzheimer's" is in fact a whole bunch of different diseases that all cause plaque buildup in the brain.
- majewsky 8y ago
  Same with atopic dermatitis. Everytime I talk to someone and they notice the red patches on my skin and I say it's atopic dermatitis, they immediately start rambling about how the friend of their cousin's barber totally got that fixed up with that magical treatment and I have to try it. At which point I tell them that atopic dermatitis is mostly a symptom, not a single disease.

shittyadmin 8y ago

Holy shit, I thought you were joking but most of those were in the last 2 weeks.

eganist 8y ago
Right? And if you extrapolate research like the sleep deprivation research further out, it ties in pretty well with the thinking that sleep deprivation keeps the brain from clearing the byproducts of a fight against herpes reactivation. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17945738 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17945738)
- stephengillie 8y ago
  Herpes is a normal virus, for the most part. The key mutation that makes it so annoying is its time-release capsules to reinfect cells every so often. So which "byproducts" are cleaned out?
  - eganist 8y ago
    Assuming the working theory from one of my previous citations on beta amyloid is correct, it's the beta amyloid produced to entangle the herpes virus in the brain that's cleaned out nightly by sleep. Edit: Less sleep -> more beta amyloid link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16026655 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16026655 Beta amyloyd -> herpes entanglement: https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30526-9 https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30526-9 None of this is definitive, mind you, but as each new bit of research comes out, a new piece of the puzzle appears to be put in place. Ultimately the question ends up being answered by a more comprehensive wide-scale experimental study tracking herpes mitigations of any sort and any possible reduction in alzheimer's occurrences, basically a larger version of this: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322463.php https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322463.php
    - stephengillie 8y ago
      Do you have any information about beta amyloid that doesn't involve Alzheimer's? I wanted to learn about the enzyme itself. Filtering "-Alzheimer's" on Google provides no articles, merely fact sheets and ordering forms.
      - eganist 8y ago
        Honestly, the only thing I'd ever seen addressing the protein in a manner tangential to Alz was the herpes entanglement research (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26836158 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26836158). Wikipedia might have good references as a starting point though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyloid_beta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyloid_beta
        stephengillie 8y ago
        Wikipedia: The normal function of Aβ is not well understood.[7] Most of the page is dedicated to the Alzheimer's connection. Even that quote came from Alzheimer's research. [7]Hiltunen M, van Groen T, Jolkkonen J (2009). "Functional roles of amyloid-beta protein precursor and amyloid-beta peptides: evidence from experimental studies". Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 18 (2): 401–12. doi:10.3233/JAD-2009-1154. PMID 19584429.
        eganist 8y ago
        Yeah, that seems to be the older understanding. We've now got two studies pointing to the role of beta amyloid as being substantially tied to tangling either herpes virus particles specifically or potentially pathogens in the brain more generally. Linked previously but I'll link again: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26836158 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26836158 dated 22 Feb 2016 https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30526-9 https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30526-9 dated 11 Jul 2018 These seem to reference Alzheimer's only in passing or potentially in relation to the infectious theory, but they specifically speak to the action of Beta Amyloid.

adrianN 8y ago

I wouldn't be surprised if eventually we'll figure that what we call "Alzheimer's" is in fact a whole bunch of different diseases that all cause plaque buildup in the brain.

majewsky 8y ago
Same with atopic dermatitis. Everytime I talk to someone and they notice the red patches on my skin and I say it's atopic dermatitis, they immediately start rambling about how the friend of their cousin's barber totally got that fixed up with that magical treatment and I have to try it. At which point I tell them that atopic dermatitis is mostly a symptom, not a single disease.