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Skeptix_907 t1_j5pnebo wrote

I remember reading a hypothesis by a researcher a while back that stated that tau and beta-amyloid aren't causes of Alzheimer's at all, but rather evidence that the brain was fighting an infection. In other words, they were leftovers of the brain's glial immune system.

I think more evidence is pointing that he was right.

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Freedomartin t1_j5s4ifn wrote

Oh, was this not proven yet?? I honestly thought this was agreed upon xD

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Skeptix_907 t1_j5sapbg wrote

In a strict sense, you don't "prove" things in science. You can only support them or disprove them.

>I honestly thought this was agreed upon

I don't have any idea why you'd think that, since the research into the connection between infections and dementia is extremely new. The vast majority of the researchers who do this work, as far as I know, still subscribe to the amyloid/tau hypothesis.

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Darkhorseman81 t1_j5o9xyk wrote

Maybe they are what dysregulate the gene MOF, linked to Alzheimers. I've had trouble working out why it dysregulates.

Causes blood vessels in the brain, blood brain barrier, cellular waste management and repair to break down.

Mainly due to nutrient sensing breaking down.

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extraspicey36 t1_j5qn8ee wrote

Makes sense also going to be real interesting in about 20 years with COVID… as it passes the BBB.

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BafangFan t1_j5ohn9r wrote

If this were true shouldn't we see onset of symptoms at much younger age groups?

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justaluckydude t1_j5rosx6 wrote

Just spitballing but maybe the same reason why we generally see shingles in older people. Weakened immune system in older age leads to the reactivation of the chickenpox causing virus.

Braaks hypothesis actually has some evidence behind it, (one hypothesis that says sporadic Parkinson’s can be caused first through the olfactory or gastrointestinal system infections). Some flaws too, but interesting to read about.

Also it has been known for a while now that several forms of dementia are preceded sometimes a decade earlier by psychiatric manifestations, almost like the prodromal stage to the upcoming shitstorm. Basically manifests differently in the more middle aged, or right before geriatric population.

An interesting example is that true REM sleep behavior disorder has a 70% chance to progress into a neurodegenerative condition like Parkinson’s Disease. By true I mean diagnosed by experienced neurologist or sleep specialist and ruled out all forms of apnea, antidepressant use, stimulant use, poor sleep hygiene, etc.

Lastly, schizophrenia in the past used to be called dementia praecox before we understood what was going on. They are finding now that some forms of dementia (such as behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia) actually mimic Alzheimer’s but have important earlier manifestations. Really cool stuff down the pipeline, and maybe decades down the road we will have much better screening and treatment measures.

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SuperNovaEmber t1_j5x4ko7 wrote

We do. It's just gradual. That's why we often miss it until it's too late to do anything about it. It's subtle change over time until one day we have to think back years and years and then we think about all those moments in-between and how they were just slowly slipping away while we were just too busy to notice.

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BigBooPeep t1_j5p78v3 wrote

We do. My mate had it at 35 year old. Stop being a tube and negating the fact that it is a real thing

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mattjouff t1_j5qocd2 wrote

Pointing out the trend that in the large majority of cases the onset is later in life doesn’t legate anything and is a valid question when looking at this study.

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slickhedstrong t1_j5rd6sm wrote

your observance of a single extreme case does not mean the data that says 90%+ of victims are elderly is bad data.

and this dude's observance of the data is not him saying your friend wasn't a victim of it.

i can understand why you're volatile about it, and i'm sorry that happened.

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Pr0gr3s t1_j5rune7 wrote

He probably had familial Alzheimer's, which is genetic and can occur much younger. We understand fAD pretty well, although that doesn't mean we can doing anything.

This article is talking about sporadic AD, which is around 95pct of cases.

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slickhedstrong t1_j5rcs7h wrote

my great grandfather got it around 55, but had spent a lifetime around lumber yard chemicals.

my great grandmother got it around 80.

my grandmother never got it, she's 90.

would seem if it's viral it's a specific thing ?

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