Scientists find links between Alzheimer's, herpes, and head trauma
18 comments
·January 31, 2025locusofself
feverzsj
Don't worry. Everyone has the virus.
aussieguy1234
Like the article says, 80% of people have herpes wether they know it or not.
jamal-kumar
Oh yeah for sure. Other herpes link: It can be even worse if you somehow get it in your nose, where it could be a causal factor in "learning and behavioral deficiencies and violence in children and adults", as well as other risks from other forms of herpes like HHV-6 via that route, nice and close to the brain, and also possibly linked to the development of multiple sclerosis. [1][2] It's worth noting to those that don't know that this virus lies dormant in your spinal cord and can eventually travel to the brain, causing encephalitis and as the research has actually been saying for some time now is probably also linked to alzheimers, and there's also an increased incidence of alzheimers between spouses [3]. Lots of indications that we should probably figure out a way to stamp these viruses out if we're to totally be past these extremely debilitating and life ending conditions as a species.
[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8560783/
[2] https://www.livescience.com/15453-nose-gateway-virus-brain-d...
captainhulllo
[dead]
magicalhippo
It's always herpes, to paraphrase Dr. House...
What makes herpes so special? The fact that it sticks around?
glouwbug
Maybe the fact that everyone has it
onlyrealcuzzo
It's estimated 2/3rds of adults globally have it.
That's a majority, but far from "everyone".
feverzsj
It's just they haven't got the virus yet. Or the viral load is too low to be detectable by current technique.
ellisv
Seems to be in reference to this article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39698934/
flobosg
This is the article referred by STAT (unfortunately paywalled): https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scisignal.ado6430
nntwozz
Some evidence suggests that some viral infections such as Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) may be associated with dementia, but there are conflicting results and the association with Alzheimer's is unclear as of 2024.[95][96][97]
— Wikipedia
jamal-kumar
It will bear out in studies when they start to see whatever results come from giving head injury patients and other at risk groups antivirals to hopefully measurably prevent these conditions from arising
readthenotes1
There's been enough grift in the Alzheimer's research community it's hard to believe anything
yieldcrv
ironic
yieldcrv
we definitely need a way to consider multi variable ailments better
our entire scientific institution and method just tests for one thing, says nope, and dismisses any more complex thought on the subject. unless you do it yourself, which is a very high bar to accomplish
As someone who gets a wicked cold sore every year I always hate hearing about stuff like this. It's terrifying what can happen to babies if you kiss them with HSV-1.