A Couple for You

Antibiotics may increase susceptibility to sexually transmitted viral infections

The researchers investigated the mechanisms of commensal microbial immunity on the genital mucosa by treating mice with antibiotics for four weeks and then exposing them to HSV-2. A control group received placebo. They report that the antibiotics caused a a dramatic increase in innate immune response—specifically, they noted increases in a molecule which blocked effector T cells from migrating into the vaginal tissues and secreting antiviral cytokines.
Antibiotic-treated mice succumbed to HSV-2 infection dramatically faster than control mice. They exhibited more severe pathology and all mice treated with antibiotics prior to viral exposure died within 11 days of infection. "Taking these data together, we find that depletion of commensal bacteria results in a severe defect in antiviral protection following mucosal HSV-2 infection," the researchers write.

Some chronic viral infections could contribute to cognitive decline with aging

They found CMV, HSV-2 or toxoplasma exposure is associated with different aspects of cognitive decline in older people that could help explain what is often considered to be age-related decline.
"This is important from a public health perspective, as these infections are very common and several options for prevention and treatment are available," noted senior investigator Mary Ganguli, M.D., M.P.H., professor of psychiatry at Pitt. "As we learn more about the role that infectious agents play in the brain, we might develop new prevention strategies for cognitive impairment."

Hmmmm.... yes, I thought of that many years ago and I'm a housewife and had pretty serious cognitive impairment caused by viruses at the time... 

Wouldn't this be nice

Radical vaccine design effective against herpes viruses

Herpes simplex virus infections are an enormous global health problem and there is currently no viable vaccine. For nearly three decades, immunologists' efforts to develop a herpes vaccine have centered on exploiting a single protein found on the virus's outer surface that is known to elicit robust production of antibodies. Breaking from this approach, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have created a genetic mutant lacking that protein. The result is a powerfully effective vaccine against herpes viruses.
The vaccine completely immunized two common strains of lab mice against HSV-2 when challenged with virus intravaginally or on the skin. In fact, no virus could be detected in vaginal washes four days post-challenge and even more importantly, no virus could be found in the nerve tissue, the site where HSV often hides in a latent form only to emerge later to cause disease. Protection against HSV-1, which shares considerable homology with HSV-2, was also demonstrated in both models. The vaccine produced no adverse health effects in a strain of mice with severely compromised immune systems, reflecting the vaccine's overall safety.
...The next step for the researchers in producing a herpes vaccine for use in humans is demonstrating its efficacy and safety in an FDA-approved cell line. The researchers are also looking for an industry partner to help make large quantities of the vaccine for future clinical tests.

Brain Eating Zombies of the Day

Sam Gandy and WebMD for not doing their homework.

Studies Link Cold Sore Virus to Alzheimer's Risk

The virus that causes common cold sores -- herpes simplex -- might increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease, two studies by Swedish researchers suggest.
In fact, being a carrier of certain antibodies to the virus can double the risk of Alzheimer's disease, the researchers found.
...
Dr. Sam Gandy, director of the Center for Cognitive Health at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, doubts that herpes and Alzheimer's disease are connected.
"From time to time data such as these appear in the literature, but they do not address causality or mechanism. The new data are likewise not definitive, and they do not say anything new about the association," he said.
"I do not disbelieve the data. I simply do not know whether the association has anything to do with the cause of Alzheimer's disease," Gandy added.

You are director of a Neurological department and you can't imagine a cumulative neuropathology caused by herpesviruses?  Listen asshole- If you haven't put herpes and beta amyloid into a Pubmed search and found that information -you should not be allowed to participate or comment on any research of any kind.
And WebMD- You could have just mentioned this is a correlative study.  There are direct studies.  There is no controversy.  What exactly is your agenda here?

edit- hey I figured it out.   Cognitively impaired customers are the very best kind.   Creating confusion is probably the underlying purpose of WebMd...

Told Ya So

Shingles Before 40 Hikes Risk for Vascular Events

Rates of stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), and heart attack were significantly increased among patients experiencing shingles episodes in young adulthood or early middle age, a British epidemiological study found.
Among more than 100,000 individuals in Great Britain whose records indicated a shingles attack, the risk of stroke was nearly doubled after episodes occurring prior to age 40 relative to age-, sex-, and location-matched controls, according to Judith Breuer, MD, of University College London, and colleagues.

They recommend getting the shingles vaccine.   I am not sure how it works, and am personally now afraid of vaccines, so I will do some more research on that.  I already take valtrex every day.

Brain Saving Information of the Day

Herpes viruses associated with cognitive impairment

The herpes virus that produces cold sores during times of stress now has been linked to cognitive impairment throughout life, according to a new University of Michigan study that for the first time shows an impact on children ages 12-16.
HSV-1 is the oral herpes virus. Previous research has linked it with neurological disorders associated with aging, including Alzheimer's disease and dementia, but few studies have examined whether these pathogens may influence cognition beginning early in life.
"This study is a first step in establishing an association between these viruses and cognition across a range of ages in the U.S. population," said Allison Aiello, associate professor of epidemiology at the U-M School of Public Health.

You Go Girl!

The First Basic Principle

Some people are more susceptible to illnesses in general.
Some people are more susceptible to specific illnesses.


Cold Sore Linked to Mutation in Gene 

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have found that people affected by cold sores have a mutation in a gene, which means their immune system is not able to prevent them from developing.

So, I'm guessing those people are probably more at risk of the long term effects too...
Just guessing.  

Things that make me Crazy

Could Herpes Virus Affect Memory in Older Adults?

Chronic infection with cold sores may affect thinking, especially in sedentary folks, study suggests.

Previous post on this topic
This is how I am beginning to think it works-
APOE4 compromises cell immunity to HSV1, and susceptible individuals are infected.
Herpes infection impairs the beta-amyloid pathway, which controls insulin processing.
Affected individuals with comorbid Hyperinsulinemia experience insulin resistance compounded by beta-amyloid accumulation.

Microbial Whak-a-Mole

How and Why Herpes Viruses Reactivate to Cause Disease

In the report, scientists show how the immune system may lose its control over the virus when facing new microbial threats, such as when it must fend off other viral invaders or bacteria.
...To make this discovery, researchers studied mice with latent herpes family cytomegalovirus (CMV) during severe bacterial infections. They found that T-cells responsible for CMV control were reduced significantly during a new infection with bacteria. This, in effect, reduced the "brakes" which kept the virus under control, allowing the virus to reactivate and cause disease. When the immune system eventually sensed the reactivation, the memory T-cell levels returned to normal, effectively restoring the body's control over the virus.

Story of my life.

Correlation Games

Researcher links chocolate eating to Nobel prizes

Not surprisingly, Switzerland "was the top performer in terms of both the number of Nobel laureates and chocolate consumption," wrote Messerli, who said he obtained figures on chocolate consumption from manufacturers.

However he then notes this.

Sweden, which consumes 6.4 kilos of chocolate per capita per year, was an exception. Based on this rate of consumption "we would predict that Sweden should have produced a total of about 14 Nobel laureates, yet we observe 32."

Funny how that blows your whole theory but you don't care...

My turn-  chocolate activates herpes viruses which are psychoactive.  It's very possible this is a sign of brain infection.
Huh.

How Acupuncture Probably Works

1.  Direct puncture of peripheral nerves causes an immune response and less herpetic neuralgia.   Relief of pain.

2.  Epithelial damage triggers an immune response to strep and results in mania in susceptible individuals.   Improved motivation and energy.

Very Interesting

My sister called yesterday to tell me she has a melanoma on her back/neck area.   She has always had moles, but none of them were cancerous.  My family is actually pretty susceptible to basal cell carcinoma.
Anyhow, she wondered if it could have anything to do with Herpes.   She had gotten complacent and gone off the Acyclovir, but started having nerve problems in her arms.   She ended up going to the dermatologist after a rash broke out on her elbow.    He said that was harmless, but found the suspicious spot during the exam.

So, after hanging up, I did my thing and found this:

Herpes Vaccine Entering Phase 3 Testing For Advanced Melanoma

OncoVEX, owned by BioVex, is being tested by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.  Its Phase 2 trial of OncoVEX had very encouraging results. Though persons with Stage III and Stage IV melanoma generally have very poor prognoses and die within six months to two years after the cancer becomes metastasized, the patients in Phase 2 testing of the drug fared significantly better.
Of the 50 patients involved, 8 patients completely recovered and 4 recovered after surgery and treatment with the OncoVEX vaccine.  Overall survival rate was 58 percent after one year and 52 percent after two years.

The results of Phase 3 are due sometime this fall.   I am really hoping they are good.
Maybe if herpes causes one of the most fatal cancers- instead of just heart attacks and dementia- people will decide it's okay to talk about it.

Mini Rant

Nobody seems to be able to say Herpes.
Y'all can talk about penises and vaginas on TV all day, but this is verboten.

Now that's crazy

Coral infected by Herpes Viruses too

As corals continue to decline in abundance around the world, researchers are turning their attention to a possible cause that's almost totally unexplored -- viral disease.
One of the surprises from recent research was the predominance in corals of herpes viruses -- similar but not identical to the herpes virus that can infect humans. Herpes viruses appear to constitute a majority of the viruses found in corals, and one experiment showed that herpes-like viral sequences were produced in coral tissues after acute episodes of stress.

Correlation Games

Chronic Stress Spawns Protein Aggregates Linked to Alzheimer's

Repeated stress triggers the production and accumulation of insoluble tau protein aggregates inside the brain cells of mice, say researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

"Acute stress may be useful for brain plasticity and helping to facilitate learning. Chronic stress and continuous activation of stress pathways may lead to pathological changes in stress circuitry. It may be too much of a good thing."

My turn:   Stress activates Herpes Viruses.

Brain Imaging Studies Suggest Alzheimer’s Disease Spreads Through Linked Nerve Cells

Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia may spread within nerve networks in the brain by moving directly between connected neurons, instead of in other ways proposed by scientists, such as by propagating in all directions, according to researchers who report the finding in the March 22 edition of the journal Neuron.

My turn:   Herpes Virus spreads via neuron to neuron transmission

THEY KNOW THIS, WHY DON'T YOU?

Antiviral Agents in Alzheimer's Disease: Hope for the Future?

It's all there. Eight pages of research.
Herpes 1 is the cause of Alzheimer's Disease. There's no other explanation that makes sense.
Register for free. Read the whole thing.

Is HSV1 Present in Elderly Human Brains? (yes)
Does a Genetic Factor Act with HSV1 to Confer a Strong Risk of AD? (yes)
Does APOE Affect HSV1 Expression and Load in Brain? (yes)
Is There an HSV1 Connection with Senile Plaques and/or β-amyloid? (yes)
Is There an HSV1 Connection with Abnormally Phosphorylated Tau? (yes)
Are There HSV1 Connections with AD-relevant Genes? (yes)
Is Latent HSV1 in Brain Activated by Peripheral Infection? (yes)
Is antiviral Treatment effective for AD? (looks that way...)

Passive Aggressive Public Service Announcement #1

Just wanted to mention:
Acyclovir and Valacyclovir are dispensed over-the-counter in pharmacies in Mexico.

Alzheimer's Disease is caused by Herpes Virus

There I said it. Prove me wrong.
I'll gladly play that correlation game.

All the research points at the same conclusion-

• APOE 4 is the single strongest known risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. APOE4 intensifies herpes virus latency and is associated with increased oxidative damage of the central nervous system, and there is some evidence that herpes simplex virus infection in combination with the APOE4 genotype may be associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease
• Progressive dementia is one of the clinical forms of chronic herpetic infection.
• Herpes simplex virus interferes with amyloid precursor protein processing.
• Herpes simplex virus infection causes cellular beta-amyloid accumulation
• Herpes viruses have actually been found in plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

And the research also shows that it is probably easily treatable and possibly reversible.

• Early Sign of Alzheimer's Reversed in Lab
• Antiviral Drugs May Slow Alzheimer's Progression
• Eating Fish Reduces Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

What I want to know is why the herpes and dementia researchers aren't running through the streets screaming this at the top of their lungs?
Why aren't the news shows trumpeting this information? There's way more evidence for this than most of the health information they broadcast.
Why is there NO information about this on the Alzheimer's Association website?

Somebody could put out a tweet and in one day get a thousand volunteers to take acyclovir for a while.

What the hell is wrong with the world???

5-24-2014-  updated research here...

Dancing in my Kitchen

When it is good it is very, very good:

Antiviral Drugs May Slow Alzheimer's Progression

Researchers found that treatment of HSV1-infected cells with acyclovir, the most commonly used antiviral agent, and also with two other antivirals, did indeed decrease the accumulation of β-amyloid and P-tau, as well as decreasing HSV1 replication as we would expect.

Peculiar Symptoms

Referred Itch (scroll down a bit)
About one person in four or five is conscious that scratching an irritation may produce an itch elsewhere.

I had a number of these most of my life. Very specific too, my wrist-bone was connected to my rib-bone, for example.

They all disappeared after I started taking acyclovir.

Acyclovir

Just thought I'd discuss dosing, since I never have.

Standard dosing is 800 mg of acyclovir per day.
I had to take 1200 to suppress my symptoms.

I am now on 1000 Valtrex instead. I like it better.
But if I go out in the sun I need to take another half tablet at night or I get headaches again.

Gluten used to nullify the effects immediately. Within an hour I would have a migraine. This last time it took about a week of cheating to feel the effects. I started getting a lesion so restricted my diet again.

I have another illness right now though. Your mileage may vary.

Anyhow, both my sister and my mother had intractable headaches for many years. I cringe at the thought of all the procedures they endured. They too went into complete remission within a week of acyclovir treatment.

You will have to pry those pills out of our cold dead hands....