What Is The Relationship Between HSV-1 And Alzheimer's Disease?

New evidence states a viral infection brings Alzheimer’s to light. A recent editorial from the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease shifts focus from immune system suppression to a viral infection. Dr. Douglas Kell, a professor at the University of Manchester’s School of Chemistry, claims, “We are saying there is an incontrovertible evidence that Alzheimer’s disease has a dormant microbial (viral) component. We can’t keep ignoring all of the evidence” (Knapton). Viruses are commonly found in the brains of elderly people. In most cases, they have all of their bodily functions. Around two-thirds of people will contract the viral infection herpes at some point in their lifetime. Herpes has been known to damage the central nervous system in humans.

When I was 8 years old, the thoughts running through my mind should have been like any other 8 year old girl: going home to play my brand new Nintendo DS or playing house with my little sister. Reality was, I wasn’t a normal little girl. I was the girl whose life got turned upside down in a matter of minutes. No matter how much anyone tried to tell me, I knew a normal 8 year olds life didn’t include being surrounded by doctors 24/7.

Alzheimer’s Disease is a disease of the future. With the growing aged population, this disease, which affects primarily the elderly, will become of increasing relevance to the medical profession. Also, the high frequency of Alzheimer’s, and the high cost in labor, money, and material of caring for its victims shall put considerable burden on the society as a whole. Here, however, these issues are not going to be debated. Instead the pathology of Alzheimer’s will be reviewed to the extent it is known today.

HSV-1 is generally transferred from one person to another by kissing.... HSV-2 is usually transferred by vaginal intercourse or anal intercourse. Yet in the same way HSV-1 may invade the genitals and then trigger genital HSV simplex virus, HSV-2 will transfer from a single person's genitals to one other person's lips, leading to oral herpes.

For the purpose of this essay I will be comparing how Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and associated dementias are recognised in the United Kingdom (UK) and responded to, when compared to Italy. I have chosen this subject as there are indications from both countries that dementia sufferers will increase dramatically over the next twenty years. It is estimated that there are 800,000 people in the UK with AD and dementia, this number is expected to double by 2040. At present the cost to the economy is £23 billion, by 2040 the costs are likely to treble(Gov.UK). REFERENCE NEEDED. In Italy there are approximately 1 million people living with dementia. (Alzheimer’s, 2016) It has been suggested by 2020, it is estimated that 584,000 new cases of dementia will occur in the country (Choices, 2016).

For my first summary, I decided to research the common knowledge behind the dementia disease to really get a grasp of what exactly we are dealing with so that I, and my reader can get a full understanding of what dementia is. Labeled; “What is early onset dementia,” this article perfectly breaks down the disease and provides full analysis behind the basics on what you need to know when understanding dementia. This article will be my backbone to the essay to help hold it together whenever I need to explain a specific part. I learned that dementia comes in two stage, first stage being called “presenile dementia,” and second stage called “senile dementia.” The majority of patients who are diagnosed with dementia before the age of 65, already have Alzheimer’s

disease and Alzheimer’s. Severe infection that has spread to the brain, epilepsy, stroke, and the late

Although HS-aging is poorly understood, this phenomena may describe a proportion of non-AD dementia [2]. The prevalence of HS-aging pathology ranges from 5 to 30% in older people [3-6]. HS-aging is generally diagnosed postmortem by the presence of TAR DNA binding protein 43 (TDP-43). The clinical signs and symptoms of HS-aging are similar to those of AD with amnestic memory deficits [7, 8]. Because of the overlapping symptomology, HS-aging is often clinically misdiagnosed as AD [7-9]. AD is characterized by accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles [10], while HS-aging is pathologically characterized by neuronal loss with gliosis in the subiculum and Cornu Ammonis area 1 (CA1) region of the hippocampus, which can occur unilaterally or bilaterally [6, 7].

HSV-1, the prototype α-herpesvirus, is a highly contagious infection known to cause several diseases ranging from painful skin lesions to keratitis and encephalitis. The virus, which is common and endemic throughout the world, causes a lifelong infection for which there is no cure, although treatment can reduce symptoms. During lytic infection, one of the first proteins to be expressed by HSV-1 is ICP27, a 63kDa, 512-amino acid protein that is post-translationally modified by phosphorylation and arginine methylation, modifications that also regulate some of its functional interactions. ICP27 is a highly conserved regulatory protein that assumes different roles throughout the course of infection. One major role of ICP27 is as the primary

According to the Alzheimer’s Association (AA), “more than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease” and this number is expected to triple by the year 2050. The AA website states that Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in our country with 1 in 3 seniors dying from Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia. Because this disease effects so many people and because its symptoms are so devastating, scientists are continually searching for the cause of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in attempt to find treatment or a cure. Some scientists working in this field believe that microbial infections may be underlying causes of the disease. There are many theories and studies are being conducted to determine whether bacteria or viruses are playing some role in the development of AD and other forms of dementia.

The brain is composed of billions of neurons, which interact and connect with each other, which allow us to perform our everyday activities. Plaques and tangles are the two structures that are suspected for the damage of nerve cells. Plagues are deposits that build up between neurons and tangles build up inside the neurons. Most people develop these abnormal obstructions as they age, but those with Alzheimer’s have a tendency to develop much more.

Dr. Richard Hunt’s research revealed that Herpes viruses are an important cause of human viral infection, very similar to influenza and cold viruses in the method of their course of infection. The virus can cause diseases or be silent for a long time only to be reactivated when the host’s immune system has fallen. Among the twenty-five strains that exist, only eight are known to be infective to human, mostly individuals over the age of 40. They are classified as Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1) oral herpes, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-2) genital herpes, Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Varicella Zoster Virus (chicken pox), Human Herpes Virus 6, HHV 7 (lymphotropic viruses), and Human Herpes virus 8 Kaposi’s sarcoma. (Dr. Richard Hunt,

Nice work on your discussion board. Herpes Simplex Virus (HPS) 1 is currently being studied for a potential connection with the development of Alzheimer’s. The form of dementia is currently being studied with no definitive cause known. Recently studies have linked the neurotropic virus which often affects 90% of the population with the development of Alzheimer’s (Lövheim et al., 2015). The current hypothesis is based on the weakening of one’s immune system with age and the progression of HSV1 through the trigeminal nerve to the meninges via the olfactory tract creating an infection within the brain (Lövheim et al., 2015). The progression of the infection leads to inflammatory changes specifically changes on the cellular level creating

"Our findings open the possibility that some of the sporadic Alzheimer's cases may arise from an infectious process, which occurs with other neurological diseases such as mad cow and its human form, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease," said Dr. Claudio Soto, professor of neurology at the University of Texas. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a so-called "prion" disease - meaning it is caused by misshapen protein molecules scientists call prions. Prions slowly destroy

Herpes (HSV) is caused by the herpes simplex virus. There are two types: HSV 1, usually associated with cold sores/fever blisters, and HSV 2, usually associated with genital or anal sores, although both can be transmitted from mouth to genitals and vice versa. Symptoms usually appear 2-7 days