Slashdot Mirror
We May Finally Know What Causes Alzheimer's -- and How To Stop It (newscientist.com)
We may finally have found the long-elusive cause of Alzheimer's disease: Porphyromonas gingivalis, the key bacteria in chronic gum disease. New Scientist: That's bad, as gum disease affects around a third of all people. But the good news is that a drug that blocks the main toxins of P. gingivalis is entering major clinical trials this year, and research published Wednesday shows it might stop and even reverse Alzheimer's. There could even be a vaccine. Alzheimer's is one of the biggest mysteries in medicine. As populations have aged, dementia has skyrocketed to become the fifth biggest cause of death worldwide. Alzheimer's constitutes some 70 per cent of these cases and yet, we don't know what causes it.
I remember twenty/thirty plus years ago when researchers found aluminum ions in the brains of Alzheimer's sufferers and there was the suggestion that cooking without aluminum pots and pans would prevent Alzheimer's. It seems that the aluminum ions were a symptom of Alzheimer's and not a cause - but on the plus side it gave steel cookware a good boost.
If it's true that this bacteria causes Alzheimer's, then it's good news as it should be fairly easy to eradicate.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Aaaaaand we have the perfect slashcomment. Experts say X, someone stops in here, says it's false, provides no links, no proof, just an unflinching assertion.
"If borne out in clinical testing, COR388 could represent a wholly new approach to addressing a disease estimated to affect more than 5.4 million people in the United States." - Business Wire article
I really hope this turns out to be a breakthrough. But as the debunked Buzzfeed story showed us, something prefixed with "if true" isn't necessarily true.
Maybe this will prompt changes to include dental coverage in with medical and not some half covered separate insurance with limited payout.
Diet is so important to your health, but getting damaged teeth fixed is expensive and mostly out of pocket. So you end up eating pre-processed crap that is bad for your health.
no
There's a reason they call Alzheimer's Diabetes 3.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Even when the things he says are obviously, demonstrably, and repeatedly incorrect? Don't you expect more from your leaders? I sure as hell do.