To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Viral Inflammation May Trigger Alzheimer's Disease URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/8E756.htm Doctor's Guide July 14, 1998
LONDON, ENGLAND -- July 14, 1998 -- The development of Alzheimer's disease might be triggered by viral inflammation, suggests new research in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. Several environmental risk factors for the disease have been identified, the most well researched of which is head trauma. The researchers compared the brain tissue of 97 people who had died of HIV infection or AIDS between the ages of 30 and 69 and 125 non-infected people of similar age. They found that the plaques indicative of Alzheimer's disease increased with age in both groups, but were over twice as common among those with AIDS. Almost one in five of those who had died of AIDS in their 40s had the characteristic plaques but there was no evidence of these in the brain tissue of non-infected people in their 40s. Two out of the 10 HIV infected patients in their late 30s and early 40s who had died before developing AIDS also had the characteristic plaques. The findings, suggest the authors, indicate that an inflammatory response in the brain, such as that caused by viral infection, may initiate the process leading to Alzheimer's disease. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.