
Could Alzheimer’s Stem from Infections? - Rezo
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/health/alzheimers-disease-infection.html
======
partiallypro
UTIs can cause symptoms exactly like Alzheimer's, so I'm sure that sparked the
idea. My grandmother actually developed Alzheimer's, I can't help but feel it
might have been set on by a long standing UTI that the Dr never caught or
treated (her Doctor was an old quack from everything I know.) Then again, her
sister also has it, so it could also just be genetic. I do hope they figure it
out, it's too late for my grandmother, but it's a big drain on everyone and
when my grandmother does "break through" briefly, she is basically begging to
die. Wouldn't wish it on anyone.

~~~
nikmobi
just thinking out loud here, but since it seems that people with the disease
can have a "break through", does that suggest that it's potentially
reversible?

~~~
ekianjo
It's not reversible. The damage to the brain during the course of Alzheimer is
destructive (causes your brain to shrink over time).

~~~
Cozumel
That's not true, it's been shown to be reversible with ultrasound dissolving
the plaque build up. (
[http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/7/278/278ra33](http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/7/278/278ra33)
)

The plague serves a primary purpose of regulating voltage between neurons like
a buffer, but now according to this study it looks like it serves a secondary
purpose like an immune reaction to disease but it gets out of control and
causes alzheimers, so removing the plaque cures the alzheimers but that's not
getting the underlying cause which this study says is the disease.

It's fantastic research and hopefully will provide a lot of hope to people and
their familes suffering from it.

~~~
DrScump
The study fulltext is free:

[http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/7/278/278ra33.full](http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/7/278/278ra33.full)

The mechanism claims to be that the SUS merely selectively opens the blood-
brain barrier long enough for microbubbles to pass through, implying (as I
read it) that their action is _mechanical_.

First ad campaign: " _Scrubbing Bubbles_ \-- not just for bathroom surfaces
anymore!"

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moyix
Some previous discussion of an earlier paper that suggested a fungal infection
may be to blame:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10401344](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10401344)

Very interesting to see more suggestive evidence from another group!

~~~
mouse_potato
I've also read some autopsy reports that showed many patients had Lyme's
disease.

~~~
nonbel
[http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-
correlations](http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations)

It is best to assume "everything is correlated with everything else", rather
than jump on every correlation. On the other hand it is important to encourage
people to notice correlations and coincidences, but realize not every one can
be followed up on, and most of these that are noticed will be only weakly
involved in any solution.

Really all we know at this point is that Alzheimer's disease is associated
with the presence of more stuff that stains with antibodies raised towards
Amyloid-beta aggregates than usual. It isn't even clear whether these are a
cause or a symptom, nor whether these stains are near 100% specific towards
beta-Amyloid (ie as derived from Amyloid precursor protein) rather than other
aggregations of beta-sheets (like any prion "infection").

~~~
nonbel
What part of this triggered a downvote? Am I not up-to-date on the current
status?

~~~
eru
It's best to disregard early downvotes.

There was a mythical past when Hacker News was much smaller, when (early)
downvotes meant something. But that's gone.

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mirimir
> The proteins were traditionally thought to be garbage that accumulates in
> the brain with age.

OK, but now:

> Not everyone who has had a brain infection develops Alzheimer’s, though. Why
> would some be more vulnerable than others? According to the new theory, it
> probably has to do with the brain’s ability to clear out the balls of beta
> amyloid after they have killed microbes, Dr. Tanzi said. For example, it is
> known that people with a gene called ApoE2 have brains that are good at
> sweeping out plaque, and have a low risk of Alzheimer’s in old age. Those
> with a different version, ApoE4, are inefficient in removing plaque and have
> a high risk of Alzheimer’s.

"Clearing out" seems a lot like getting rid of garbage ;)

~~~
Sephr
ApoE 3 has also been associated with decreased plaque clearing ability, though
not as significantly as ApoE 4.

~~~
tremon
As I understood from a BBC documentary last night, ApoE3 is considered the
baseline as it's most prevalent. Having ApoE2 decreases the risk of
Alzheimer's, while ApoE4 increases it.

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jerryhuang100
it looks like IMMUNOLOGY is going to rule them all (well, most) of the
medicine: cardiovascular diseases, cancers, allergies, diabetes, and now
Alzheimer's.

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riprowan
I find it interesting that at one time, arterial "plaque" was also considered
to be some sort of residue or trash. Analysis of the plaque revealed high
levels of cholesterol, so the "trash" was obviously caused by the cholesterol,
probably by eating too much of it. This message was no doubt approved by the
tobacco industry, which produces a zero-cholesterol product that is
nevertheless highly damaging to the arteries.

Now many doctors have changed their understanding: arterial plaques are scar
tissue and scar tissue happens to contain a lot of cholesterol. Anything that
causes scarring - like high blood pressure - leaves these plaques. So really
the plaques are the by-product of an underlying pathology, which themselves
create a secondary pathology.

Likewise, perhaps, with Alzheimer's. The plaques in the brain are themselves a
by-product of some other pathology. Solve the underlying pathology (or the
body's response to it), and you solve Alzheimer's.

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hyperion2010
Hypothesized awhile back, though the candidate is different.
[http://isteve.com/Infectious_Causation_of_Disease.pdf](http://isteve.com/Infectious_Causation_of_Disease.pdf)

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mrfusion
How would this jibe with the type 3 diabetes idea? I wonder.

