Scientists continue to find links between herpes and dementia. When a study that was published last month found "strong evidence" that viruses are involved in Alzheimer's disease, a couple of researchers proceeded to examine it more thoroughly.
In that study's postmortem analyses, it was found that people who lived with Alzheimer's had more herpesviruses 6 and 7 than people who don't suffer from Alzheimer's.
Now, a scientific commentary suggests that the study in question is not the only one to reveal a link between herpes and dementia. Three more papers have actually established similar links, and the commentary, written by professors Ruth Itzhaki and Richard Lathe, examines all three. Their analysis was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
The Link Between Herpes And Dementia
More than showing possible links between herpes and dementia, Itzhaki and Lathe's paper also suggests that there might be an effective way to hold back the onset of the tragic disease. They note that "the relative risk of (Senile Dementia) was reduced by a factor of 10" for people who underwent aggressive antiviral treatment.
"Antiherpetic medication prevented later SD development in 90 percent of their study group. These articles provide the first population evidence for a causal link between herpes virus infection and senile dementia."
Two papers analyzed in the commentary suggest that acute herpes zoster infection puts people at a higher risk of dementia. It also referenced another paper that shows aggressive treatment with antiherpetic medication drastically lowers the risk of dementia.
This latter study, which the professors regarded as more important than the other two, examined more than 8,000 people aged 50 and above who received a diagnosis of herpes simplex virus and compared them with a control group of more than 25,000 healthy people. Both groups were followed for nearly a decade. The researchers found that the group with herpes were 2.5 times more at risk of dementia than the control group.
Antiviral Treatment Cuts Dementia Risk
But the more important finding of all was that antiviral treatment reduced the relative risk of dementia by up to 10 times. According to Lathe, these new findings show the remarkable effect of antiviral treatment, but also the fact that it appeared to prevent the long-term damage that often results in Alzheimer's.
"I believe we are the first to realize the implications of these striking data on this devastating condition which principally affects the elderly," added Itzhaki. She also predicts that Alzheimer's will someday be prevented via vaccination against the virus in infancy.
