Article Guardian: Could Alzheimer’s be caused by an infection?

Could Alzheimer’s be caused by an infection? | Alzheimer's | The Guardian

 

Betteridge can rest easy, I suspect.

 

Even if everyone with Alzheimer’s is demonstrated to have previously been exposed to HSV-1, given it is such a common virus, as suggested with MS and EBV, though it may turn out to be an invariable or even necessary precursor it is unlikely to be alone a sufficient cause/trigger for Alzheimer’s.

 

Looked up valcyclovir for suppression of oral herpes outbreaks. For most people, that means you take just one pill and that one pill only at the earliest sign of an outbreak.

 

Isn't EBV the HSV-4 virus? not HSV-1?

 

I raised EBV because of the parallel finding that everyone with MS may prove to have had prior exposure/infection to/with that virus, the implication being that EBV is somehow involved in the development of MS. We have a thread here discussing an American study on this. But given how common that virus is I suspect drawing any causal relationship will have to come up with more complex answers.

Similarly if HSV-1 has some role in the subsequent development of Alzheimer’s it is not likely to be simple given how common the virus is, or we would expect a much higher incidence of Alzheimer’s in the general population.