10 ms·
Scientists find links between Alzheimer's, herpes, and head trauma
- ellisv 2y agoSeems to be in reference to this article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39698934/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39698934/
- flobosg 2y agoThis is the article referred by STAT (unfortunately paywalled): https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scisignal.ado6430 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scisignal.ado6430
- sitkack 2y agohttps://www.researchgate.net/journal/Alzheimers-Dementia-1552-5279/publication/387696525_Repetitive_injury_causes_Alzheimer's_disease-like_phenotypes_via_reactivation_of_HSV-1_in_a_3D_human_brain_tissue_model/links/677807ee117f340ec3f01f32/Repetitive-injury-causes-Alzheimers-disease-like-phenotypes-via-reactivation-of-HSV-1-in-a-3D-human-brain-tissue-model.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/journal/Alzheimers-Dementia-155...
- jamal-kumar 2y agoOh yeah for sure. Other herpes link: It can be even worse if you somehow get it in your nose, where it could be a causal factor in "learning and behavioral deficiencies and violence in children and adults", as well as other risks from other forms of herpes like HHV-6 via that route, nice and close to the brain, and also possibly linked to the development of multiple sclerosis. [1][2] It's worth noting to those that don't know that this virus lies dormant in your spinal cord and can eventually travel to the brain, causing encephalitis and as the research has actually been saying for some time now is probably also linked to alzheimers, and there's also an increased incidence of alzheimers between spouses [3]. Lots of indications that we should probably figure out a way to stamp these viruses out if we're to totally be past these extremely debilitating and life ending conditions as a species. [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8560783/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8560783/ [2] https://www.livescience.com/15453-nose-gateway-virus-brain-disorders.html https://www.livescience.com/15453-nose-gateway-virus-brain-d... [3] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2945313/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2945313/
- mrtesthah 2y agoThe current best effort at curing HSV by way of gene-editing out the latent virus from infected cells is being conducted by the Fred Hutch center. You can donate to their research here: https://secure.fredhutch.org/site/TR?px=1802786&pg=personal&fr_id=1574 https://secure.fredhutch.org/site/TR?px=1802786&pg=personal&... In the meantime, taking anti-virals will reduce the risk of alzheimers: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8234998/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8234998/
- yakshaving_jgt 2y agoSilicon nitride might also be a novel therapy for HSV, if it could perhaps be formulated as a skin scream. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/16/12657 https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/16/12657
- ThePowerOfFuet 2y ago[flagged]
- yakshaving_jgt 2y agoYeah, I noticed that typo too late to be able to edit it. le sigh
- justinclift 2y agoTaking tattoos to a new level? ;)
- echelon 2y agoMost of the population carries one herpesvirus or another, and those damn things integrate into our nervous system as nuclear plasmids for life. We really should accelerate this line of research. The herpesvirus family could be causing ADHD, Alzheimer's, MS, and a whole host of other brain diseases. Perhaps even a general cognitive decline in the population.
- 2y ago
- nntwozz 2y agoSome evidence suggests that some viral infections such as Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) may be associated with dementia, but there are conflicting results and the association with Alzheimer's is unclear as of 2024.[95][96][97] — Wikipedia
- jamal-kumar 2y agoIt will bear out in studies when they start to see whatever results come from giving head injury patients and other at risk groups antivirals to hopefully measurably prevent these conditions from arising
- readthenotes1 2y agoThere's been enough grift in the Alzheimer's research community it's hard to believe anything
- yieldcrv 2y agoironic
- readthenotes1 2y agoAnd today... https://archive.is/URjfk https://archive.is/URjfk NYT editorial touting a book declaiming the corruption in Alzheimer's research
- throwawaymaths 2y agothe nhs wales vaccine study is pretty solid
- Qem 2y agoI thought there was no vaccine for Herpes Simplex.
- throwawaymaths 2y ago
- magicalhippo 2y agoIt's always herpes, to paraphrase Dr. House... What makes herpes so special? The fact that it sticks around?
- glouwbug 2y agoMaybe the fact that everyone has it
- onlyrealcuzzo 2y agoIt's estimated 2/3rds of adults globally have it. That's a majority, but far from "everyone".
- feverzsj 2y agoIt's just they haven't got the virus yet. Or the viral load is too low to be detectable by current technique.
- minitech 2y agoWe have ways to test for latent HSV (antibodies, not viral load), which prevalence estimates are informed by. And yeah, anyone who doesn’t have a virus doesn’t have it “yet” in a trivial sense, but no, to echo the parent comment’s point: not everyone gets an HSV infection, even over their lifetime, and the proportion that don’t is non-negligible.
- dsego 2y agoAnd not everyone has bacteria that causes cavities or gingivitis. Seems once you get it, it's difficult to get rid of. I was trying to explain this to my mom (grandma) when she was sharing spoons with our little one, and she was all defensive, like I'm squeamish and it's not a big problem, the kid needs to strengthen her immune system and she's already putting stuff in her mouth, so she will pick it up anyway. It's that boomer/hippie generation that doesn't understand why washing hands was important during covid.
- yieldcrv 2y agowe definitely need a way to consider multi variable ailments better our entire scientific institution and method just tests for one thing, says nope, and dismisses any more complex thought on the subject. unless you do it yourself, which is a very high bar to accomplish
- tsimionescu 2y agoWhat would a multi variable model look like where, say, both herpes and plaques contributed to Alzheimer, but you couldn't find proper correlation with either taken individually? There are plenty of diseases where we have identified multiple risk factors successfully. We have examples of diseases where either risk factor alone is often causative (e.g. pulmonary cancer can be caused by smoking, or by long term asbestos exposure, and if exposed to both, fixing just one won't make the risk very low; and there are of course many other substances that can cause this). And we have also identified diseases where you need two (or sometimes more) separate factors to trigger it (e.g. shingles is a diseases that is triggered in individuals that previously had chickenpox, but generally only if their immune system is weakened by something else, typically old age).
- lukan 2y agoTo complicate things further, Virus can also develope symbiotic traits. https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro2491 https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro2491
- captainhulllo 2y ago[dead]
- locusofself 2y agoAs someone who gets a wicked cold sore every year I always hate hearing about stuff like this. It's terrifying what can happen to babies if you kiss them with HSV-1.
- feverzsj 2y agoDon't worry. Everyone has the virus.
- aussieguy1234 2y agoLike the article says, 80% of people have herpes wether they know it or not.
- suzzer99 2y agoI assume 100% of redheads like me have it.
- etrautmann 2y agoWhat’s the connection?
- tiagod 2y agoI Googled "redhead herpes" and the first result was for "Virucidal activity of ginger essential oil against caprine alphaherpesvirus-1". I found that a weirdly funny bahaviour of the Google search natural language parser
- tome 2y agoI find it an extremely annoying behaviour, and it seems to be implemented in such a simplistic way. If one searches for "redhead" then it's likely one also wants results for "ginger", but not all such results, only the one where "ginger" has the same meaning!
- anigbrowl 2y ago
- quanto 2y ago> the latest work addresses one of the biggest criticisms of the microbial theory of Alzheimer’s: HSV-1’s ubiquity. Alzheimer’s impacts only about 10% of the population — if HSV-1 were causing it, why are there so many people who are repositories of the virus but not developing the disease? That's the rub. Even if this non-traditional brain model is to be taken at face value, there is a missing variable somewhere, arguably more important; HSV-1, at best, would be a contributing factor.
- Veserv 2y agoI know right. If polio causes paralysis then why do only 0.5% of people who contract polio become paralyzed? Checkmate. That is mixing up necessary versus sufficient. If all people who develop Alzheimer’s contracted HSV-1 prior to developing Alzheimer’s and all people who did not contract HSV-1 do not develop Alzheimer’s (technically implied by my first statement), then you can make a good case for causality. Obviously you can do better, but that is a good start.
- starspangled 2y ago> That's the rub. Even if this non-traditional brain model is to be taken at face value, there is a missing variable somewhere, arguably more important; HSV-1, at best, would be a contributing factor. Did you completely miss the point of the article and even of the quote you copied. "the latest work addresses [this very criticism you have]"? The article tells us what the missing link is (according to their hypothesis). That's the whole point of it. It's even in the title.
- dbetteridge 2y ago> Research suggests concussions could awaken latent infections in the brain and lead to dementia That'd be the suggested missing link, physical impact disturbing dormant virions in the brain or allowing a temporary passage to a part of the brain they're normally unable to reach.
- tommiegannert 2y agoThere was a study published in 2022 suggesting that there's a link between Epstein-Barr and Multiple Sclerosis (where the immune system attacks the neuron insulation layer), and that when you get infected affects the outcome. Cleverly, they used blood samples from US service members, who have to do it multiple times in life. https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.abj8222?src=getftr https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.abj8222?src=... [PDF]
- Earw0rm 2y agoMakes me wonder if this or other viruses might have a role in the inflammation cascades that sometimes kill people after relatively minor head trauma. I mean there are literally cases like Gabrielle Giffords where people have a penetrating bullet injury and live (not without damage, but they live), and others where a seemingly minor bump spirals to become fatal damage over the space of a few days to a week.
- bilsbie 2y agoHow does apoe3 affect this?
- bilsbie 2y agoWhat happened to type 3 diabetes?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- pithanyChan 2y agoOut of two people with chronic outbreaks of Herpes who I have taught to counter the adagio of any stress and equip the rest of the mind against unhealthy stress in general ( recurringly; I haven't found a way to hard-code such a root in adult minds ), only one applies my teaching and is affected 20+ times less by Herpes than before and per year in comparison to the other person. One is also a lot more consistent regarding his diet and eliminated any "impure" saucage like Salami, Mortadella et al as well as most cheeze. In our family and their social circles, Alzheimers and Dementia are quite prevalent, but absent in any siblings who ate and drank (liquor) "more expensive" and less "impure" ( impurities introduced in all the steps of agri-/horticulture and (ultra-/processing) ). Some stuck to the epithany that "this is not real meat" and "this is not real milk" when they arrived from the East, others didn't. Some noticed the effects of concentrates vs whole ingredients and others didn't. IMO, focus on what happens to the nerves in body rather than brain when they are affected by anything "artificial" or "impure". Alzheimers , Dementia, Herpes and so on are the end of a long line of "stuff that happens".
- djohnston 2y agoSo it's APOE-4 + HSV-1 + subsequent head trauma in a model? Interesting, but not particularly shocking - there have been associations with all three of those independently, no? I'm still waiting for the research community to let the amyloid theory die its long-deserved death and start focusing on tau; hopefully it will restore some momentum towards clinical treatments/prevention.
- echelon 2y agoI was infected with HSV-1 as an early child (toddler age), and I've suspected it has played a role in ADHD development as well. Not to mention varicella. > start focusing on tau The tau hypothesis has been a thing for a long time as well. I wish we'd stop focusing on molecular indications altogether and look at the plausible etiological agents as mechanisms. The herpesvirus family, certain gut microbiota, blood-brain barrier breaches, immune cell activity, and insulin dysfunction are all incredibly plausible mechanisms that might all somehow contribute or lead to the disease.
- bryant 2y agoSo, I've had this hunch since the very first studies pointing towards the herpes/Alzheimer's link and doubled down on it after the discovery of the "glymphatic fluid" system for essentially washing the brain during sleep. And it's impacted a lot of my social decisions to an almost unhealthy extent, but it's validating to see the research and possible payoff. My hunch has always been: brain cleans itself. So long as brain cleans itself, infections like herpes and some of the bacteria involved in gingivitis can't trigger the amyloid domino effect that could cause Alzheimer's. But once that cleaning mechanism fails (head trauma), the body can't clean the detritus from the brain fighting the infection anymore. Apoe4's association with boosted hsv outbreaks factored in as well. I'm oversimplifying it and am probably taking wild stabs in the dark, but I'm hoping the avoidance of high risk behaviors ends up paying off. But the next question is whether this is all for nothing — if VZV (chickenpox/shingles) ends up having a similar effect... we're already giving our kids weakened VZV vaccines anyway. Seems like the longer term solutions will be: 1) vaccines to prevent hsv/vzv/hhv etc, but they'd end up being love and thus pose a similar but lessened risk 2) ensuring a way to excise the viral DNA from any of these 3) finding a means to rebuild the glymphatic membrane after trauma. --- My comment is a lot of wild pontification. Any MDs wanna provide a sanity check on anything I said?
- account-5 2y agoCan I just take a minute to reflect on the start of the title of this article: Using lab-grown human mini-brains... ... WTF is this!?
- tremon 2y agoIt's our first attempt at a cyborg, obviously: growing a human brain on a mycelium substrate connecting to robotic limbs.
- ausbah 2y agoif i’m young, is there anything i can do to remove latent hsv1 viruses?
- yakshaving_jgt 2y agoNo, not yet. Your best hope is Dr Keith Jerome’s work.
- HeatherTurn 2y ago[dead]
- HeatherTurn 2y ago[flagged]
- ReneeSmith 2y ago[dead]