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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).
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??
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.
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!
they think it causes it:
They propose that a weakened immune system allows the virus into the brain.
There, it causes flare-ups in the brain at various times when the person is stressed etc. Basically, just like the cold sores on your lips.... but in the brain.
These cause the cells to create this non-soluble plaque stuff which then gets left behind when the cells themselves die.
The treatment with anti-virals would presumably prevent, or decrease, the number of "flare-ups" in the brain and therefore reduce the rate at which this Alzheimer's inducing plaque is formed.
(although i'm not clear on whether the damage is caused by the plaques or if the plaques are just a marker of all the cells that have been destroyed and the disease is actually caused by that destruction.)
if you've had cold sores and paid attention to how they seem to develop one can see how it would be destructive.
1) You start out perfectly fine.
2) For whatever reason this virus starts reproducing in some of your cells (highly localized)
3) a cluster of blisters forms.
4) After a few days, the "blisters" stop forming and you're left with a moderately significant wound that takes a while to heal.
Now imagine this happening in your brain... and remember that nerve cells, unlike skin cells, don't really reproduce much (if at all).
(Incidentally, i'm one of the people for whom Abreva (an OTC medicine) works very well. If I put it on in time it stops the progression in its tracks. HIGHLY recommended.
now if i could only figure out how to rub it on my brain.....)