5 ms·
This is really fascinating, horrifying and hopeful at the same time. It makes sense that some neurodegenerative diseases with unknown etiologies are caused by
by elcook4000 3y ago
This is really fascinating, horrifying and hopeful at the same time.
It makes sense that some neurodegenerative diseases with unknown etiologies are caused by prions or prion-like proteins.
It could be fruitful to study the rate of Alzheimer's among nursing assistants who work in elder care. I found a few resourcas stating a higher rate for caregiver's in general along with nurses.
I have thought decreased immune function from aging leads to the increased permeability of the blood brain barrier: which leads to the infiltration of pathogens and now possibly prions.
I would assume this could be, or possibly has been, studied in animal models.
- tim333 3y agoFrom my limited understanding the blood brain barrier doesn't really stop things. However it is difficult to transmit from one person / animal to another usually resulting from things like transplants or being injected in.
- elcook4000 3y agoI just did a brief search and found this article related to the increased permeability of the blood brain barrier with aging. https://immunityageing.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12979-015-0029-9 https://immunityageing.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s1... Research into chemical agents that induce or inhibit this would also be of interest.