Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) affects many people worldwide but
what if this disease was simply caused by an infection by a microbe. I came
across an article while reading the news that supports this idea and how
possibly we have been going in the wrong direction when treating this disease
for many decades. The theory goes something like this, a person is infected
leading to a metabolic waterfall effect, leading to a diseased brain and in
response amyloid plaques (Davis, 2018).
A Harvard neuroscientists, Dr. Tanzi,
believes that amyloid plaques are possibly part of our ancient immune
system after finding that these plaques are lethal to microbes in a test tube (Davis, 2018).
Dr. Tanzi believes the amyloid plaques are in response to an initial infection
which then leads to build of plaques. This then leads to an inflamed state in
the brain which then causes the actual damage known as Alzheimer’s. Dr. Tanzi
says this may not be the only possible route that leads to Alzheimer’s but we
should consider all possibilities when trying to reduce the prevalence and
incidence of Alzheimer’s (Davis, 2018).
After further literature review I found an article that names herpes simplex
virus type 1 (HSV1) as a possible precursor infection that ultimately leads to
Alzheimer’s. This article relates that many AD patients have microbes present
in their brains and that HSV is known to cause herpes simplex encephalitis
(HSE) an inflammatory response to the disease (Itzhakia et al., 2016). AD has long been known to
have an inflammatory component that lends to the idea that AD is infection
caused. Is it possible that we have been overlooking the microbe as a cause of
Alzheimer’s Disease?
As future healthcare providers it is important that we
always seek the answer and never get narrow minded about our practice. We must
provide justice and beneficence to patients by always seeking out ways to
better healthcare and provide the best outcome for them.
Davis, A. (2018). Could Alzheimer’s Be An Infectious
Disease. Health News NPR.
Itzhakia, R. F., Lathe, R., Balin, B. J., Ball, M. J.,
Bearer, E. L., Bullido, M. J., Fulop, T. (2016). Microbes and Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. https://doi.org/10.3233/RNN-150534
This is very interesting! I find it so fascinating that some diseases can be caused by much simpler sources than we believe them to be, and yet others we think there is a simple cause, when in fact it is a complex interaction of many components. It would be interesting to compare microbes found in AD patients, and compare that to non-AD patients. If AD truly was caused by a microbe infection, I wonder if completely avoiding that initial infection would need to occur in order to see a decrease in AD prevalence down the road, or if it is duration of that infection, or even treatment of that infection that could affect AD prevalence. Thank you for sharing!
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