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Cold Sore Virus May Be Alzheimer's Smoking Gun
Science Daily is reporting that the virus behind cold sores has been found to be a major cause of the insoluble protein plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease sufferers. Researchers believe the herpes simplex virus is a significant factor in developing the debilitating disease and could be treated by antiviral agents such as acyclovir, which is already used to treat cold sores and other diseases caused by the herpes virus. Another future possibility is vaccination against the virus to prevent the development of Alzheimer's in the first place. The research was just published in the Journal of Pathology (abstract).
I just lost my train of thought.
Man my mouth hurts but I don't remember why.
Alzheimers runs in families, which is particularly worrisome for me since I have it on both sides of my family. If it is caused by a virus, then why is it passed down in genes? Are some people more sucseptible to this virus, thus there is a gene for vulnerabilty to this virus, instead of a gene for Alzheimers??
Let's wait until the anti-vaccine douchebags hear about THIS. Doesn't this vaccine turn your prepubescent daughter into a whore?
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
in a few weeks, poor innocent little children will get visits from aunt bertha and grandma marge, and the first thing the strange smelly relatives will do is find the innocent children, exclaim "my how you've grown!" or "aren't you the cutest thing, i could eat you up!" and, approaching the children, who will now be rapt in horror, they will proceed to plant wet sloppy kisses, over the protestations and gyrations of the children sturggling to break free of the bear arm grip
and, the kids are right to object. they are trying to avoid herpes and alzheimers
kisses from old relatives is a brain mummifying disease
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I had a 'fever blister' about every month when I was a kid. I had better follow up on this. Although we never had any Alzheimers in the family my oldest cousin and her ex-husband both have it. There was never a case in his family either.
Too lazy to create a sig...
Herpes Zoster and Herpes Simplex viruses are killed with a silver ion concentration of 16ppm or more. Just hold the solution in your mouth for ten minutes, then spit it out. There is no danger of Argyria since most is discarded and very little remains in your blood stream. Estimates are 4 parts per billion, which is far below the 2 grams generally recognized as required for Argyria to show. The little that does remain is eliminated in several days, so it is wise to keep taking the solution as a preventative measure.
The ions appear to work with the immune system much the same way as other trance elements are needed, like chromium, selenium, and so on. A deficiency of silver will make you more vulnerable to pathological infections, but these disappear as soon as the silver ions are absorbed into the blood stream.
Most of the solutions sold in health stores is 3 to 5 ppm, which is too weak to do much good. You need about 16 ppm or more. With skill and practise, you can make this yourself for pennies per dose. Please see my web site at http://silversol.net63.net/ for more info.
The team discovered that the HSV1 DNA is located very specifically in amyloid plaques: 90% of plaques in Alzheimer's disease sufferers' brains contain HSV1 DNA, and most of the viral DNA is located within amyloid plaques. The team had previously shown that HSV1 infection of nerve-type cells induces deposition of the main component, beta amyloid, of amyloid plaques.
100% might have been a clincher. If anti-virals help, I might have rto eat my worlds.
Most people have HSV1. HSV1 DNA locates in the amyloids. So most people expressing the amyloids would have HSV1 DNA in them.
What's up with the 10% of alzhemier amyloids without the HSV1. It sounds like amyloid metabolism is the problem and HSV1 is along for the ride.
I don't remember :-(
With these findings in mind, it would be interesting if someone were to do a study and see if there's a correlation between Alzheimer's incidence and people who have a tendency to get cold sores. Since only 20-40% (according to TFA) of HSV-1 carriers develop cold sores, I wonder if being susceptible to outbreaks indicates a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's later in life. You'd have to correct for all sorts of environment factors, but still, as someone who gets cold sores something awful that would be a very interesting study. Anyways, great article, it's good news if something comes out of this. HSV in its different varieties is already known to be responsible for quite a few diseases so only good can come out of more research into it.
Those kisses will also cause caries aka cavities
Can one be tested for the herpes simplex virus? I never had an outbreak, but one winter when I was cyclilng in -17C (stupid, yeah, gimme a break, I love cycling) I got a cold sore on the tip of my nose. So now I would like to be able to dismiss the idea I have herpes simplex. But if I have it, I'd like to start a therapy ASAP - I don't want to get Alzheimer's.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Might not be the only culprit here. Chicken pox (V. zoster) and Shingles (H. zoster) are related to HSV1 and HSV2. Many people may have had either -or both- of these infections as children or adults and carry the virus in a dormant state in their body. The research does not address these other -possible very prevalent- vectors in AD.
Sig this!
I didn't completely understand from reading TFA, do they think that the herpes virus is the cause, or is it possible that it's just taking advantage of the Alzheimer?
Nastiest Alzheimer's joke ever:
Guy brings his wife to the doctor. Doctor tells him "We screwed up the lab results. She either has AIDS or Alzheimers."
Guy says "great, what should I do?"
Doctor says "Drop her off about a mile away from home. If she finds her way home, don't fuck her!"
this thread really brought out the trolls...
"If for any reason you're not satisfied with our service, I hate you."
Now we know why all those disco people seemed to suffer from brain damage!
Everyone at SDSU is doomed to have Alzheimer's.
Eat sleep die
This is excellent news for most slashdotters since the herpes 'cold-sore' virus is typically transmitted by kissing.
There's something about jokes that require improbable/impossible setups that just makes them not worth the effort...
Please, you people claim that it even works over the phone.
No wonder the hooker never remembers me.
You have a BRAND NEW vaccine, where we don't have long term data on it, that prevents a disease that affects a small percentage of people with a virus... oh, and the only way to get that virus is a behavior that they don't their children to engage in. Given that vaccines always carry SOME risk, however small, it isn't necessarily irrational that they not want their young daughters given it.
I have a cousin, as secular as they come, that passed on giving it to his daughter that was 10 at the time. He thinks that it's probably a good idea in a few years, but that his non sexually active daughter didn't need to be a guinea pig, and that by the time she was 14 or 15, we'd then have 4-5 years of results, which seemed better than 0.
That said, vaccinating people "at risk" is BAD public policy, since the ideal vaccination is blanket to wipe out the virus. A 90% effective vaccine with 95% penetration is probably more useful than a 95% vaccination with 30% penetration, because you can eliminate spreading the virus, which generally wipes it out.
What you said reminds me of when I told a friend a stupid joke. He responded by saying, "It sounds like someone just made that up."
Let me get this straight. If I always wear a condom I won't get Alzheimer's? :p
So eould an AntiViral, like Acyclovir help prevent Alzheimers if taken early enough (say in your 40's)
This puts "This Is Spinal Tap" in a whole different light.
That said, vaccinating people "at risk" is BAD public policy, since the ideal vaccination is blanket to wipe out the virus. A 90% effective vaccine with 95% penetration is probably more useful than a 95% vaccination with 30% penetration, because you can eliminate spreading the virus, which generally wipes it out.
http://www.google.com/search?q=herd+immunity
If you read TFA, one of this study's researchers is a fellow named Matthew Wozniak. Mere coincidence, or relation to Steve?
No it's true, really. Happened to a friend of a friend of mine. His wife never made it home apparently.
nambla troll?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
AIDS isn't contagious, the HIV virus is.
The same reason this medical story got headlined on a website moderated by computer geeks. It's called "bad science".
To me this makes some sense (I'll pull up short of being the "that's not surprising" guy). Herpes is the most common cause of viral encephalitis in the United States, and many different members of the herpesvirus family establish latency in neurons. More to the point, and the reason HSV I (and II to a much lesser extent) is a common cause of encephalitis is the fact that it shows predilection for the trigeminal ganglion behind the eye, in close proximity to the cerebrum.
Not to HER home.
She's happier now, at least for a few minutes at a time.
---
ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
Random transcriptions into our DNA and/or cronic uncured virus's kicking around in our system can have long-term effect? Who'd have thunk? Seriously though I've heard theories that some types of cancer might be the result of viral DNA from some prehistoric plagues leftover in our genome screwing things up. This would sorta be more of the same.
Nope, I heard that joke several years ago; in fact my wife told it to me, I think she got it from her brother in England.
More importantly, I suspect, especially in the larger context of our long pre-industrial history, these relatives are giving children an opportunity to build immunity to other common pathogens. If this is in fact a behavior that has been selected for, then it makes sense that the transmission of the herpes virus (which will probably occur anyway after they grow up and have a couple of girl- or boy- friends) was a negative outweighed by the positives. For the majority of our species' history Alzheimer's was a disease with an average age of onset similar to the contemporary life expectancy. Today, while kids probably get their exposure to pathogens mainly through school, I imagine the immune system building process is on the whole more important than an attempt to avoid one recently-evidenced Alzheimer's correlation by seeking an increased level of sterilization in the child's environment. And once again, I don't imagine that contracting herpes as a child or as a young adult could be two drastically different things.
Don't be a dick. That is PC semantic bullshit. Would you say that "whooping cough" is contagious? Yes you would. Most people would. But, the causative agent of whooping cough is the bacterium Bordetella pertussis; "whooping cough" is a description of symptoms of a pertussis infection, like "acute immune deficiency" is a description of symptoms associated with an HIV infection. Playing with semantics doesn't make AIDS any less contagious.
and herpes isn't contagious; the herpes simplex virus is.
If true, this should have been spotted by medical researchers years ago. It's not as if the statistical data isn't present - there's tons of it. If true, this once again shows how sucky our medical system is.
One thing the authors of this study seem to have forgotten is that there could still be other causes of Alzheimer's, and the HSV infection is simply opportunistic, as it is to other types of neural injury.
Herpes is part of a family of lipid coated viruses. All such viruses are inhibited (but not cured) by consuming BHT. BHT in capsule and bulk for is available from VRP. For more on this visit their site, vrp.com/. It works for me perfectly. More on this can be found here:http://www.advance-health.com/bht.html.
how about a cure for something for a change?
Sadly, this joke is incorrect, because recently it has become known that HIV causes damage to the brain even if there are no signs of AIDS. So people, how catch HIV when they young and take their anti-viral medications the rest of their life, and thus prevent AIDS, still risk that they will become dement.
Here's a better one:
What's the good thing about Alzheimer's?
You keep making new friends!
And all those new and exciting shows and movies on TV.
Actually they can't watch TV, except for nature programs that don't have a plot.
Impossible to follow a drama if you can't remember who the characters are or what they did five minutes ago.
I briefly dated a girl with herpes, so I've done quite a bit of research about it. One of the things that I found interesting is that because herpes is a nonfatal "nuisance" disease, it doesn't get a lot of attention from drug researchers. And a lot of herpes patients have stories about doctors who don't take seriously the impact of the disease on their quality of life.
There is a severe stigma to having herpes and those who have it often suffer from fear of rejection far beyond what the stereotypical Slashdot geek has to endure. Add to that the potential guilt of having transmitted it to others and the feeling of victimization of acquiring from a partner who through ignorance or selfishness didn't tell you that they had it. Even if it IS a "nuisance" disease, it carries all the shame and anxiety that come with a serious STD.
If it is associated with Alzheimer's disease, however, maybe that will serve as stronger motivation to the medical community to find a cure or a vaccination -- sort of how they found a vaccination for the strains of Human Papiloma Virus most frequently implicated in cases of cervical cancer.
So we've found Hollywood's target demographic?
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Along the same lines, the following joke was told by a relatively senior person in a large international company at his closing address to a group of sales directors at a sales conference in Bangkok, Thailand. A friend of mine was present and swears it was told exactly this way:
Gentlemen, as we finish tonight a great number of us will be going out after dinner. A word of warning though - half the prostitutes have AIDS and half have tuberculosis, so make sure you pick one who coughs.
Mr. Jones went to the doctor. The doctor said to him, "I'm sorry Mr. Jones, but you have Alzheimers, and you have cancer."
Mr. Jones smiled and replied, "Well, at least I don't have cancer!"
I just lost my train of thought.
It's those pesky kids...always putting pennies on the tracks, derailing your train of thought...
Disclaimer: The opinions and actions of the US Gov't are in no way representative of those held by this author or its ci
Nope, I heard that joke several years ago; in fact my wife told it to me, I think she got it from her brother in England.
Yuck. Your wife's sexcapades with her discotheque brother should not be discussed on /. I certainly hope you don't fuck her anymore. :P
Disclaimer: The opinions and actions of the US Gov't are in no way representative of those held by this author or its ci
OK, so there was this guy with Alzheimer's, right? And one time some people came to his room. He was very tired, and so he mostly just lay in his bed. When he thought they might be saying something that needed a response he'd say "sure". Mostly, however, he kept quiet.
After a bit, someone else came in and asked him to eat some crushed-up pills and drink some juice. When presented with the straw for the juice, instead of drinking, he blew some bubbles through the straw - and everybody there got a good laugh.
I don't have a problem with people who make jokes about Alzheimer's... Nothing should be beyond the scope of humor. But this is a sample of what Alzheimer's is to me.
Bow-ties are cool.
And while he's being a PC semanticist, it's HIV or Human Immuno Virus, but to call it the HIV Virus is to say virus twice.
"I hope you like Guinness, Sir. I find it a refreshing substitute for, er... food." Col. Jack O'Neil, SG-1
I also have a funny joke:
A man walked into a bar and asked for a scotch.
The bartender said "We're out of scotch."
The man said "Give me a scotch."
The bartender said "I just said, we're out of scotch!"
The man said "Give me a scotch."
The bartender said "Look, how do you spell the Jack in Jack Daniels?"
The man said "J-A-C-K...Give me a scotch."
The bartender said "How about the Cap in Captian Morgan?"
The man said "C-A-P, of course."
The bartender said "Now how do you spell the fuck in scotch?"
The man said "There ain't no fuck in scotch."
The bartender said "I know, that's what I've been trying to tell you, there ain't no fuckin scotch!
Nice joke, who typed it?
Huh?
What am I doing?
...and colds aren't contagious but rhinoviruses are, and tuberculosis isn't contagious but tubercle bacilli are, etc. etc. etc. stupid git.
...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
Actually, in all our medical genetics research, the only top correlation is with ApoE, which is the hereditary component.
But, remember, the plaques are merely the result of the filters in your brain failing to function. So, even if this paper (all 8 pages of it) are true, it only means we may have found what causes plaque build up, not that we know what causes Alheimer's disease per se.
One of the highest correlations in fact, is with cardiovascular damage in the brain, or to the heart, so it's unlikely this is the foundation for a "cure", just a treatment for certain symptoms of the disease.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
And while he's being a PC semanticist, it's HIV or Human Immuno Virus, but to call it the HIV Virus is to say virus twice.
Brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department, previously bringing you the ATM machine, PIN number, NIC card and ISBN number.
Jeez, why don't they just outlaw Herpes? (or Alzheimer's)
Sad, but true.
That is why I only watch movies that come out of India
The new MSV alpha