Herpes Simplex Virus - Connection Between Facial Sores and Alzheimer's Disease

Connection Between Facial Sores and Alzheimer's Disease

In the presence of a certain gene variation (APOE-epsilon4 allele carriers), a possible link between HSV-1 (i.e., the virus that causes cold sores or oral herpes) and Alzheimer's disease was reported in 1979. HSV-1 appears to be particularly damaging to the nervous system and increases one’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The virus interacts with the components and receptors of lipoproteins, which may lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease. This research identifies HSVs as the pathogen most clearly linked to the establishment of Alzheimer’s. According to a study done in 1997, without the presence of the gene allele, HSV-1 does not appear to cause any neurological damage or increase the risk of Alzheimer’s. However, a more recent prospective study from 2008 with a cohort of several thousand people showed a high correlation between seropositivity for HSV and Alzheimer's disease, without direct correlation to the APOE-epsilon4 allele.

Read more about this topic:  Herpes Simplex Virus

Famous quotes containing the words connection between, connection, facial, sores and/or disease:

    The connection between our knowledge and the abyss of being is still real, and the explication must be not less magnificent.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    Self-expression is not enough; experiment is not enough; the recording of special moments or cases is not enough. All of the arts have broken faith or lost connection with their origin and function. They have ceased to be concerned with the legitimate and permanent material of art.
    Jane Heap (c. 1880–1964)

    You must call up every strength you own
    And you can rip off the whole facial mask.
    William Dewitt Snodgrass (b. 1926)

    There is something terribly morbid in the modern sympathy with pain. One should sympathise with the colour, the beauty, the joy of life. The less said about life’s sores the better.
    Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)

    War is in truth a disease in which the juices that serve health and maintenance are used for the sole purpose of nourishing something foreign, something at odds with nature.
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)