A cold sore today… dementia tomorrow?

Fact: Most people are infected with the Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV1) — the most common form of the herpes virus — by age 70.

And here’s another, far more frightening fact: For over thirty years now, researchers have been exploring a link between the herpes virus and Alzheimer’s disease. With results indicating that patients with HSV also face a higher risk of dementia.

A risk that simple antiviral treatment may be able to lower…

From double to a dozen times the risk

According to researchers, the herpes virus sits latent in the body after an initial infection. As you know, this means that cold sores can and do crop up again later — usually in response to another infection, inflammation, or a suppressed immune system.

But data also suggests that herpes plays a role in amyloid plaque and tau protein build-up in the brain. Especially in carriers of a gene called APOE-ε 4.

About half of dementia patients with this specific gene also have HSV1 present in their brains. And Alzheimer’s risk is a whopping 12 times higher for this group than it is among people without APOE-ε4 or herpes.

This is probably because carriers of the gene are more likely to experience reactivation of the virus after the first infection. But even without taking genetic predisposition into account, the risk is undeniable.

Research shows that herpes simplex virus more than doubles the odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to controls without the virus. And the concern isn’t limited to cold sores, either.

One study showed that infection with herpes zoster — the technical term for shingles — triples the rate of dementia. But when shingles patients received antiviral treatment (with drugs like acyclovir, valacyclovir, tromantadine, and famciclovir) dementia rates dropped by half.

When antivirals are worth a try

Anti-viral drugs may not be a magic bullet. But this discovery is nevertheless a huge win in the fight against dementia.

And yet, conventional doctors still clinging to old theories that have gotten us nowhere. They’re still relying on useless AD medications that cost a fortune and, in my estimation, do absolutely nothing for the patient.

So if you ask me, it’s past time we put this new breakthrough theory to the test.

To offer some perspective, statistics in the UK (where a lot of this research took place) show that some 70 percent of 30- to 40-year-olds test positive for the herpes virus. And about 25 percent of these patients are also APOE-ε4 carriers, to boot.

True, that only amounts to about 18 percent of the entire age group. But it’s still a significant portion of patients who could very likely benefit from even a short course of antiviral treatment.

And that’s a benefit that I’d be more than willing to roll the dice on… even though I obviously don’t take (or prescribe) pharmaceuticals very often.

There are well over 100 studies that have explored the link between herpes and dementia at this point. And in typical fashion, mainstream medicine has all but ignored them. As far as drugs go, antivirals are fairly harmless and affordable. So if they can pack this big of a punch against Alzheimer’s, they’re well worth considering.

I certainly plan on trying this approach with my patients, and will be sure to let you know how it goes.

But in the meantime, I encourage you to check out my Drug-Free Protocol for Reversing Alzheimer’s and Dementia. It’s full of helpful, all-natural strategies to incorporate into your everyday life so that you can restore your memory, strengthen your focus, and building a bigger, brighter brain starting today. Simply click here to learn more about this online learning tool, or to enroll now.

Source:

medscape.com/viewarticle/903703