Sensitive to cold sores? Research shows that you have a DOUBLE risk of dementia later in life
- People with dementia are at greater risk of becoming infected with the herpes simplex virus
- It is believed that between 50 and 80 percent of American adults have the cold sore virus
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A study shows that people prone to cold sores have a double risk of dementia later in life.
Researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden found that people infected with the herpes simplex virus (HSV) – which causes cold sores – were twice as likely to develop all forms of dementia at some point in their lives, compared with those who never suffered from dementia. infected.
It is thought that the virus could increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease because fragments of the virus remain in your body for life and there is evidence that they travel to the brain, where they cause the formation of amyloid-beta plaques and tau causes, which are characteristics of the disease. Dementia.
It is believed that between 50 and 80 percent of American adults have the HSV virus. It remains dormant in the body, but during times when the immune system is low, exposure to the hot sun, cold wind, cold or other illness or even stress can cause pimples.
Researchers found that people infected with the herpes simplex virus – which causes cold sores – were twice as likely to develop dementia at some point in their lives, compared to those who were never infected.
Alzheimer’s disease is becoming increasingly common in America. Deaths from the disease have increased since 2000
Although the study was observational and cannot prove the link, it is consistent with previous findings.
For the latest research, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s DiseaseFor 15 years, researchers studied more than 1,000 70-year-old Swedes.
“What is special about this particular study is that the participants are approximately the same age, which makes the results even more reliable, because age differences, which are otherwise associated with the development of dementia, cannot confound the results,” says Erika Vestin, a medical student. from Uppsala University, told Medical Xpress.
Blood samples were collected and analyzed to detect whether they had the herpes simplex virus.
The researchers also collected information about dementia diagnoses and indications of cognitive impairment from the participants’ medical records.
Researchers from the Memory Clinic at Uppsala University Hospital reviewed the diagnoses and classified cases as established or probable dementia.
About 71 participants (seven percent) developed dementia and 36 (four percent) developed Alzheimer’s disease.
About 89 percent of participants who developed Alzheimer’s disease or dementia had the herpes simplex virus, while 82 percent of those without cognitive impairment had the virus.
Through statistical analyses, the researchers determined that having the virus doubled the risk of dementia.
Dementia is the general term for a group of conditions associated with loss of memory, language and judgment.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of the disease, affecting more than six million Americans, while Lewy body dementia is the second most common form, with approximately one million people living with the condition.