Herpes virus infections are a significant risk factor for the later development of dementia. After being infected with the herpes simplex virus, you are twice as likely to develop dementia as people who have never been infected.
A Swedish research team led by Erika Vestin and Dr. In a recent study, Bodil Weidung from Uppsala University examined whether there is a connection between the presence of antibodies against the herpes virus and the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia. The results are published in the “Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease”.
Evidence of a connection
For several years now, there has been increasing evidence of a potential connection between herpes virus infections and dementia. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (USA) had already identified a connection between herpes viruses and Alzheimer’s in a study in 2018.
In the same year, researchers from the University of Manchester and the University of Oxford even came to the conclusion that half of Alzheimer’s diseases could be caused by herpes viruses and that antiviral therapy may have a preventative effect.
In the new study, the Swedish team has now evaluated the data from 1,002 70-year-olds who were included in the study between 2001 and 2005 and followed for 15 years in order to identify possible connections between dementia and infections with the herpes simplex virus determine.
Dementia risk doubled
When analyzing the data, it became clear that participants who had been infected with the herpes simplex virus at some point in their lives were twice as likely to develop dementia as those who had never been infected, the team reports. In addition, no positive effects of antiviral therapies were detectable.
“The special thing about this study is that the participants were approximately the same age, which makes the results even more reliable, as age differences, which are otherwise associated with the development of dementia, cannot distort the results,” emphasizes study author Erika Vestin.
Further studies required
In future research, it is now important to further investigate the connections and check whether other drugs already known against the herpes simplex virus can reduce the risk of dementia. The research team hopes that the disease may be prevented in this way. (fp)
