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Alzheimer's Link To Herpes Virus In Brain, Say Scientists (theguardian.com)

Tests of brain tissue from nearly 1,000 people found that two strains of herpes virus were far more abundant in the brains of those with early-stage Alzheimer's than in healthy controls. "[S]cientists are divided on whether viruses are likely to be an active trigger, or whether the brains of people already on the path towards Alzheimer's are simply more vulnerable to infection," reports The Guardian. From the report: "The viral genomes were detectable in about 30% of Alzheimer's brains and virtually undetectable in the control group," said Sam Gandy, professor of neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York and a co-author of the study. The study also suggested that the presence of the herpes viruses in the brain could influence or control the activity of various genes linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer's.

The scientists did not set out to look for a link between viruses and dementia. Instead they were hoping to pinpoint genes that were unusually active in the brains of people with the earliest stage of Alzheimer's. But when they studied brain tissue, comparing people with early-stage Alzheimer's and healthy controls, the most striking differences in gene activity were not found in human genes, but in genes belonging to two herpes virus strains, HHV6A and HHV7. And the abundance of the viruses correlated with clinical dementia scores of the donors.

57 comments

  1. Find a nation by AHuxley · · Score: 2

    with skilled pathologists and get testing.

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    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    1. Re:Find a nation by PranavMene · · Score: 1
  2. Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by Sique · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is about the Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) and Human herpesvirus 7 (HHV7). It has nothing to do with Herpes zoster (HHV3) known for chickenpox and shingles, and with Herpes simplex (HHV1, HHV2), which cause oral and genital herpes.

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    .sig: Sique *sigh*
    1. Re:Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      A big brain lesion? With the swelling and the short term memory.

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      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    2. Re:Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      most of the planet has had an HHV6 or HHV7 infection.

    3. Re: Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Absolutely every single thing a person does goes against a balance sheet. Every injury when young contributes to arthritis when old. Every trauma to the head; physical illiness. Every disease; weakness. Every emotional trauma; mental illness.

      It all adds up. Nothing fades away. Likewise, every kindness to kind people; help when you need it.

      Be a selfish, disease spreading piece of shit; youâ(TM)ll be lost in the dark with no one to care.

    4. Re:Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by BESTouff · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thank you very much, you ruined it all. I opened this "story" precisely just to read about the Herpes genitalis jokes ...

    5. Re:Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This is about the Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) and Human herpesvirus 7 (HHV7). It has nothing to do with Herpes zoster (HHV3) known for chickenpox and shingles, and with Herpes simplex (HHV1, HHV2), which cause oral and genital herpes.

      Thanks for the clarity, but I was more confused over the fact that we discovered a connection between an STD and its ability to rot your brain well over a century ago (we linked paresis to late-stage syphilis back in the 1880s). How the hell did we simply overlook what appears to be a rather obvious metric to research in the field of brain-crippling diseases for so long? No one thought to review the history of Alzheimers patients to see if a disease they contracted has a causal effect?

    6. Re: Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Brain herpes expains why most people think TV news is real, mystery solved... now back to why WTC7 collapsed: explosives. ae911truth dot org

    7. Re:Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by beelsebob · · Score: 1

      Yes, but not all of them have those viri in great quantities in their brain.

    8. Re: Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      What has STD done to a generation? The show.

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      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    9. Re:Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by jeff4747 · · Score: 2

      Your confusion largely stems from the fact that HHV6 and HHV7 are not STDs. They're skin infections. Virtually every human catches these viruses as children.

      HHV6 is found in basically 100% of humans. https://hhv-6foundation.org/wh...
      HHV7 antibodies are found in about 95% of humans, but it does not do nearly as good a job of laying latent as HHV6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    10. Re:Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How the hell did we simply overlook what appears to be a rather obvious metric to research in the field of brain-crippling diseases for so long? No one thought to review the history of Alzheimers patients to see if a disease they contracted has a causal effect?

      Your question implies some historical capability to do this sort of analysis, when in reality to be able to just take some samples and check for a match for DNA activity is a relatively recent advancement in technology... which is only really now in the realm of cost accessibility for these kinds of 'let's see what's going on' kind of studies.

      Remember how AIDS was so obviously killing people for years and spreading like a virus back in the 1980s... but it took years and years to identify that it actually was HIV to the point that until the virus was actually imaged and tests were developed many doctors still doubted it was a virus in part because people's immune systems were never able to recover like with other viruses.

      We have a number of diseases now that may have some viral component in triggering the disease or making it worse beyond merely the genetic factors, but we still don't know... many types of cancers, multiple sclerosis, developmental disorders, autism could all have some relation to viruses that aren't nearly as clear as the standard model of coming down with a cold and then getting better.

      Maybe not even the same viruses are having similar long term effects depending on how the infections spread. Just some correlation with severity or some causal trigger with resulting symptoms in common.

      It is wonderful that people are able to do these kinds of studies now and match them against databases of viral genomes... but to imagine medical science has had some previous capability to just pick out viral genomes is really ignorant of the history of medical science.

    11. Re:Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Minor grammar quibble: The plural of virus is viruses.

    12. Re:Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I recall a story a number of years back about Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients and infectious mononucleosis (Epstein–Barr virus, human herpesvirus 4 HHV-4). A control group showed the expected rate of exposure, but the MS group showed 100% exposure to the virus.

      This was at least a decade ago.

    13. Re:Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People have always told me I have a dirty mind. It wasn't until I was diagnosed with Alzheimers that I really knew how much the damn thing was really getting around.

    14. Re: Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Just wrong. Sheltered people break down when stressed. People don't wear out, they rust.

      Anything that doesn't kill you, makes you stronger (and stranger). Deal with it, don't cry. Grown babies suck.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    15. Re:Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      HHV7 is not the STD version of Herpes. There are a large number of strains in the herpes family that are not associated with STD infections. Google HHV7.

    16. Re: Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by jd · · Score: 1

      Almost nothing makes you stronger. Except fish.

      --
      It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
    17. Re: Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So karma in the same life..?

    18. Re: Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by another_twilight · · Score: 1

      Anything that doesn't kill you, makes you stronger

      This is the sort of short-sighted statement that's made by someone who has never suffered a crippling injury. And no, dealing the injury physically and/or mentally may be something that affords you an opportunity to grow and develop, but you are still left with some portion of function that is permanently reduced.

      What you are looking for is the idea of being constantly challenged. Too little work/stress/strain on the skeletal system and it grows weaker; too little physical work and muscles atrophy; too little exposure to bacteria and infection and our immune system turns inwards etc.

      A reasonably constant, sub-injurious level of stress with enough respite to recover tends to produce a reaction that adapts to that level of stress - whether that's physical load, immune response or even mental health. Too little and our amazingly efficient system scavenges what we aren't using. Too much and we end up with long-term damage from insufficient healing.

      Seeing someone not coping with a situation (like your 'sheltered people' in the first line) and shrugging your shoulders with a 'that which does not kill us' is pretty damn cold. Maybe they've been sheltered. Maybe they've had to cope with a few too many incidents without enough down time to get stronger. That your challenges have been of the right scale and interval to allow you to grow is awesome. Not everyone gets to play your hand.

    19. Re: Before the Herpes genitalis jokes roll in... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Read the GPs post. AC is completely full of shit, his position is: all stress is 'crippling'.

      Everybody that has any strength (mental or physical), has it because of the things they've overcome. At a young age, it's the parents job to make sure the kid gets appropriate stress.

      Nobody/nothing can fix an adult that's never been stressed. There is nothing to do but shrug your shoulders and say: 'Your purpose in life is now to serve as a warning to the young and their parents.'

      Grown babies suck. We _should_ point and laugh. They're done, the only people to be concerned about is the young that might have a grown baby as a role model.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  3. Bingo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We have finally found cre1mer's illness! It might have been transmitted by his uncle.

  4. Bias by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This is another one of those study's where 30 or 40% percent of patients with dementia have herpes where 30 of them probably already have herpes because it is so common. It's a nothing finding. It's like saying 30 to 40% of people with black hair have dementia.

    1. Re:Bias by Sique · · Score: 2

      Actually, people without dementia don't have the virus. And this is the significance we are talking about. And usually the infection with HHV6 or HHV7 happens in early childhood, known as roseola infantum (Sixth disease).

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      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    2. Re:Bias by Nutria · · Score: 1

      You're ignoring the fact that 70% don't have herpes.

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    3. Re:Bias by Sique · · Score: 1

      I didn't. The previous poster did.

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      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    4. Re:Bias by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're ignoring the fact that 70% don't have herpes.

      With only 7% of those infected showing signs, we managed to discover a link between syphilis and general paresis, a mental disorder caused by the disease that eventually leads to cerebral atrophy.

      We discovered this over 130 years ago.

      Perhaps the one thing we ignored here with this "new" discovery, was history.

    5. Re:Bias by Memnos · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, neither is correct. The study found that 30% of Alzheimer's patients had abnormally high quantities of HHV6/HHV7 in their brain tissue. Further that the quantity of the virus in the brain had a strong positive correlation with the amount of dementia clinically observed. The vast majority of people have been exposed to HHV6/7 and some viral load might show in the blood, but because of the BBB that would not mean a similar amount, or any amount, would be present in the CSF.

      --
      I don't trust atoms -- they make up stuff.
    6. Re: Bias by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amen, undereducated bro!

    7. Re:Bias by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      100% of humans have been infected with or exposed to HHV6A and HHV7.

      IN the US its called Roseola and most children get this before the age of 2.

    8. Re: Bias by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Some sort of animated meme Venn diagram would be good on slashdot. Herpes, Alzheimer, no Alzheimer, no herpes. Then the part where it all interacts.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    9. Re:Bias by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So as stated the only problem with this study is that the increased quantity of HHV6/HHV7 maybe be caused by the disease, not causing the disease, e.g. for example through glial cell dysregulation, etc. The link should definitely be studied further but the OP is somewhat misleading.

    10. Re:Bias by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      Actually, people without dementia do have the virus. Basically every human has HHV6. The difference is whether or not the HHV6 was in the brain.

    11. Re:Bias by mlyle · · Score: 1

      You're missing the fact that 90-95% of humans have HHV6/HHV7, which is what the article is about, which are herpes viruses but not the cause of oral or genital herpes.

    12. Re:Bias by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nobody said these Alzheimer patients have herpes. They have herpes viruses. Please show me your evidence that 30% of the general population have herpes viruses in their brains.

    13. Re:Bias by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please don't ever try to become a scientist.

    14. Re:Bias by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes that is one possible explanation, but why is it a problem with the study? TFS says "link", just as you do. It explicitly says that the direction of the causation is undetermined, so I don't know what you think is misleading.

  5. HIV Conspiracy Theory Redux by mentil · · Score: 1

    Obviously, certain epigenetic sequences cause the body to synthesize this herpes virus, which then goes on to cause alzheimer's symptoms. Alternatively, the epigenetics cause the virus AND alzheimer's.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    1. Re:HIV Conspiracy Theory Redux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it is time for a philosophical question. (Because we all love Slashdot polls, don't we?)

      What would you rather be:
      A non-functional brain in a healthy body or a healthy brain in a non-functional body?

      It could be a good idea to direct our research so that we are fairly sure to end up in the state that is most desirable before we pass away.

  6. File this with ulcers and H. Pylori by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The other diseases it took scientists decades and decades to tie together with a virus/bacteria

  7. I've got hairpiece on my head by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wha?

  8. Brain herpes? This definitely gives... by Blaede · · Score: 1

    ...a new meaning to the term "skull fuck"!

  9. Herpes Vaccine by Only+Time+Will+Tell · · Score: 1

    Perhaps this work might spur increased funding into the herpes vaccine effort. It has been awhile since I last heard there was a potential candidate for testing. It would have to obviously cover multiple strains than just the STD of course.

    1. Re:Herpes Vaccine by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      Virtually every human has HHV6. It's one of those viruses that does a good job hiding in our bodies after infection, and pretty much every child catches HHV6.

      95% of humans have HHV7 antibodies. It doesn't do as good a job of hiding.

      So, it isn't like "catch this virus and you'll get Alzheimers". Because we'd all have Alzheimers if that was true. Either something unusual happened that caused the viruses to cross the blood-brain barrier and cause dementia, or far more likely the effects of dementia let the viruses cross the blood-brain barrier.

    2. Re:Herpes Vaccine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Science Friday had a related story two years ago. I recommend you all interested listen it (bit above 17min) or read the transcript from that same page.

      Herpes is one of the viruses that seem to have something to do with beta-amyloid (plack) formation in brain. There is also some hints to that it may be related to changes happening in pancreas and 2:n type diabetes formation. I'm not in the field but following these studies been one of most interesting medical stuff I've heard of past 10 years.

  10. What were we talking about? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can't remember, I must have old timer's disease.

  11. Obviously an effect, not a cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the brain-herpes were the cause, then 100% of the Alzheimer's patients would have it.

    So they must just be susceptible to it, perhaps it gives them a special vulnerability to it. Fodder for the next study of 100x participants.

  12. correlation != cuasation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wikipedia: "Over 95% of adults have been infected and are immune to HHV-7,[34] and over three quarters of those were infected before the age of six."

    So, umm, yeah, you are going to see a high correlation of HHV7 and ANY group you study.