Further evidence links herpes virus to Alzheimer’s disease

There has been growing evidence for the concept that herpes virus is a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Lead expert in the field, Ruth Itzhaki (University of Manchester, UK), presents a lifetime of evidence that the herpes virus can cause AD and reveals that antiviral drugs drastically reduce the risk of senile dementia in people with severe herpes infections. The article, published in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience, proposes that latent herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) in the brains of carriers of APOE-ε4 is reactivated intermittently by events such as immunosuppression, peripheral infection and inflammation. “Our theory is...