Ruth Yitzhaki, a research scientist at Oxford University, piqued public curiosity in the 1990s when she published evidence linking Alzheimer’s to the herpes virus, a nasty virus that spreads through oral or genital contact and often causes painful infections. For years, strong proponents of the amyloid hypothesis ignored or dismissed the infection hypothesis of Alzheimer’s, effectively rendering it invisible, Dr. Yitzhaki said indignantly. Research has shown that the virus can lurk undetected in organs, including the brain, for years and cause symptoms different from the original infection.
But her idea may finally be gaining acceptance. Nearly 5,000 papers have been written on infectious diseases and Alzheimer’s since Dr. Yitzhaki began her work. National Institutes of Health funding to study such links is set to jump from a few million dollars a year to nearly $250 million by 2023. Clinical trials of treating latent herpes in Alzheimer’s patients with an antiviral drug are underway, with results expected as soon as next year.
No one can stop aging or change our genes. But risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity, depression, hearing loss, a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet, and racism can be targeted. Miguel Arce Renteria, a neuropsychologist at Columbia University, argues that more accessible treatments that also address social issues could stave off the worst symptoms of Alzheimer’s for years. While most research is in the search for an elusive cure, the mood is changing. Federal funding for research into treatment and prevention, like some of Dr. Arce Renteria’s work, has increased recently.
Sometimes, diseases result from a single, clear cause, like the genetic mutation that causes deadly sickle cell disease, “but aging-related diseases rarely have just one cause. It’s not logical,” said Dr. Matthew Schrag, a neurologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who works independently from the university and discovered imaging manipulation in a 2006 study.
Like many amyloid skeptics, Dr. Schrag agrees that amyloid beta protein plays a role in the complex puzzle of Alzheimer’s, but it is not the only key to treatment, as many scientists imagine. If there was a universal cause of Alzheimer’s, it would appear earlier in life and be noticeable in all who suffer from the disease.
