Some Crazy Stuff about Shingles and Dementia

We've discussed before, both in this blog and in Beating the Dementia Monster, that there seems to be a correlation between people getting their shingle shot and a reduced incidence of developing Alzheimer's disease.  The case for this continues to strengthen, as illustrated in some recent studies in Wales and Australia.  I believe it's likely that my disease stems from my history of three episodes of shingles.

In our book, we noted that some researchers believe that the amyloid plaques we're trying to get rid of are actually part of the body's defense against a variety of microbial pathogens.  The plaques may be trying to encapsulate the pathogens and stop their propagation in the brain.  In our discussion of pathogenic causes of Alzheimer's, we noted researchers have also correlated another pathogen, the bacteria causing gum disease (p. gingivalis), with the advent of Alzheimer's symptoms.  At autopsy, evidence of the presence of the herpes virus and p. gingivalis are usually found in the brains of Alzheimer's victims.

So here's a question.  How does the role of pathogens in the brain correlate with the positive effects of applying The Dementia Toolkit, notably with respect to exercise and diet?  Well, according to one paper, perhaps "environmental factors like stress, diet, sleep, and exercise may influence Alzheimer's risk in part by modulating the innate and adaptive immune responses to [pathogens]."  In other words, the time you spend on the treadmill is regulating the ability of the pathogen to cause damage in your brain.  The paper appeared in the journal, Molecular Psychiatry.  It was entitled, "The viral hypothesis: how herpesviruses may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease."

What's prompting me on this topic is a new study in Australia about a relatively small but consistent correlation between the shingles shot and the advent of dementia.  The study replicated the results of a similar study in Wales.  The Australian study was published in the JAMA Network.  It's a little complicated, but by studying the medical records of more than 101,000 patients with a mean age of about 62 years, there was a 1.8% decrease in the probability of receiving a dementia diagnosis during a 7.4-year period.  That's not a lot, but hopefully most of us will have several more 7.4 year periods after we turn 62.  And the rate of development of the disease increases with age.  So what would that mean for a 7.4-year period beginning at the age of 75?  It might be a lot more than 1.8%

But what may be more important here is the insight this research gives us on the causes and mechanisms of the disease.  As time as gone on, most researchers have migrated away from a simplistic understanding that the disease is fundamentally about the development of amyloid plaques and microtubule tangles.  As a minimum, the amyloid hypothesis has been maturing, and some have abandoned it.

I apologize for being a bit of a slug about posting here.  My wife and I took a trip to a resort area in the Cascades for a few days, and then I was in Seattle for an overnight stay in the hospital while they wired me up to study my sleeping brain.  I'm hoping this will yield a positive outcome for my chronic insomnia.  And, I'll admit it, I have a harder time these days finding the energy to research and write on these topics.  And the YouTube channel is a lot of work.  So I do what I can.