Experts Believe Infections Cause Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's may have come from the brain's toxic remnants as it tries to fight off infection. This surprising hypothesis emerged from a new research at Harvard that could shed light on the origins of plaque, the strange hard little balls that disfigures the brains of the patients.

The experts on the Alzheimer's disease who are not part of the research are fascinated by the concept that infections, with those that are mild enough to draw out symptoms, could generate a strong reaction, leaving debris that cause Alzheimer's. The appears surprising, but the research data, which was published in the journal Science Transnational Medicine, supports it.  If proven true, the hypothesis offer significant implications for the prevention and treatment of the degenerative brain disease.

Based on the Harvard research report on Alzheimer's, a fungus, bacterium or virus enters the brain and passes through a membrane that gets leaky when people age. The defense system of the brain comes in to stop the intruder by creating a sticky cage out of proteins referred to as the beta amyloid. The microbe gets trapped in the cage and later dies. The plaque, which is the characteristic feature of the disease, is left behind in the cage.

Thus far, the research group has confirmed the hypothesis in neurons that grow in petri dishes and in yeast, mice, fruit flies and roundworms. According to the researchers, so much work still needs to be done to find out if the same sequence occurs in humans. However, planning and funding should be placed to begin those studies that involve a multicenter project of examining human brains, Perf Science reported.

Meantime, the Cure Alzheimer's Fund has began a huge collaborative project using the gene sequencing technology that will carefully search for microbes in the brains of people who had Alzheimer's, including those who did not. According to reports, the researchers will also search for microbes in the plaques that are found in human brains. While considered a big step, the group recognizes the need to ask if there are microbes that could sneak into the brain as people age and provoke the amyloid deposition before they start aiming for a way to stop them, according to Tampa Bay.