A massive study of 500,000 medical records is linking viruses to Alzheimer’s. Check out the following reports about this below.
Viruses are linked to Alzheimer’s
A recent study analyzed approximately 500,000 medical records and revealed that severe viral infections like encephalitis and pneumonia could increase the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
The researchers discovered 22 links between viral infections and neurodegenerative conditions in the study, which included around 450,000 individuals.
The study found that people who received treatment for viral encephalitis, a type of inflammation of the brain, were 31 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, around 6% (24 out of 406 viral encephalitis cases) developed Alzheimer’s disease.
It has been found that those who were hospitalized with pneumonia after catching the flu are more susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Several neurodegenerative diseases are also linked to intestinal infections, meningitis (both often caused by a virus), and the varicella-zoster virus (which causes shingles).
The impact of viral infections on the brain can last for up to 15 years in some cases.
Moreover, there is no instance where exposure to viruses has been found to be protective.
Around 80 percent of the viruses that cause brain diseases can cross the blood-brain barrier and are considered ‘neurotrophic’.
“Strikingly, vaccines are currently available for some of these viruses, including influenza, shingles (varicella-zoster), and pneumonia,” the researchers wrote.
“Although vaccines do not prevent all cases of illness, they are known to dramatically reduce hospitalization rates. This evidence suggests that vaccination may mitigate some risk of developing neurodegenerative disease.”
In 2022, a study of more than 10 million people linked the Epstein-Barr virus with a 32-fold increased risk of multiple sclerosis.
Check out the complete article posted by Science Alert in order to learn more details about all this. Stay tuned for more news.
