A research paper supporting the fact that Alzheimer's disease is caused by herpes virus is announced

by Samuel Zeller

Alzheimer's disease, which is said to suffer more than 30 million people worldwide, is one of dementia that has not found an appropriate treatment. Research results that herpesvirus is involved in such Alzheimer's disease have existed for a long time, but research results supporting the fact that herpes virus is the cause of Alzheimer's disease are newly published.

Frontiers | Corroboration of a Major Role for Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 in Alzheimer's Disease | Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00324

Alzheimer's disease: mounting evidence that herpes virus is a cause
http://theconversation.com/alzheimers-disease-mounting-evidence-that-herpes-virus-is-a-cause-104943

According to the latest research paper published on October 19, 2018, strong evidence has been found indicating that herpes virus is the cause of Alzheimer's disease. It is also suggested that safe and effective antiviral drugs can treat patients with Alzheimer's disease and possibly become able to vaccinate against Alzheimer's disease.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV - 1), which is known to cause herpes labialis, is thought to be a type of virus involved in Alzheimer 's disease. HSV-1 infects many people in early childhood and latent in a dormant state in a part of the nervous system other than the brain and spinal cord of the peripheral nervous system. When a person infected with HSV-1 is stressed, the virus is activated, causing it to cause herpes labialis and so on.

It was revealed in the research paper published in 1991 that this HSV - 1 exists in the brains of elderly people. In addition, in a research paper published in 1997, when APOE 4 and HSV-1, which are one of apolipoprotein E gene polymorphisms, which are risk factors for Alzheimer's disease, are simultaneously present in the brain, the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease It has been shown that sex is higher.

HSV-1 is a virus at risk of repeated activation in the brain, suggesting the possibility of causing cumulative damage to the brain. It was also found that when APOE 4 and HSV - 1 are present in the brain at the same time, the probability of developing Alzheimer 's disease is 12 times higher than in the absence of either factor.

by jesse orrico

In the latest research it has been discovered that this HSV-1 accumulates abnormal proteins such as amyloid β. The accumulation of these proteins in the brain is one of the characteristics of Alzheimer's disease, so the research team considers HSV-1 to be a major contributor to Alzheimer's disease.

First of all, as the immune system declines, HSV-1 increases in the brains of elderly people in what order that Alzheimer's disease is considered to occur. And HSV-1 is "reactivated in the brain" due to brain inflammation caused by stress, immune system decline, other virus infection, etc. Then, HSV-1 reactivated in the brain causes virus-induced inflammation, causing direct damage to infected cells in the brain and accumulating beta amyloid in the brain. This is considered to be a cumulative damage to the brain, which is the cause of Alzheimer's disease in people with the APOE 4 gene.

by Cheron James

These findings also suggest that antiviral drugs may be useful for treating patients with Alzheimer's disease. It aims to prevent safe antiviral drugs from occurring in the brain by preventing the occurrence of new viruses and to prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Actually, from past studies it is already clear that acyclovir, an anti-herpes virus drug, blocks the DNA replication process of HSV-1 and can suppress the development of amyloid β caused by HSV-1 infection It is becoming.

However, it should be noted that this study shows only the relationship between herpes virus and Alzheimer's disease. The study shows how HSV - 1 causes Alzheimer 's disease, but in fact it is said that "the cause of Alzheimer' s disease is HSV - 1" is that HSV in the brain It is necessary to prove that suppression of -1 greatly reduces the incidence of Alzheimer's disease.

In addition, since it has been demonstrated that anti-herpes virus drugs are useful for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease in the large-scale group survey conducted in Taiwan in the past, it is reported that herpes virus is the cause of Alzheimer's disease The day we can prove may not be so far.