- Anyone who has received a herpes diagnosis may be twice as likely to develop dementia than people who have not, according to a new study from Uppsala University in Sweden.
- HSV-1, the type of the virus that causes cold sores or oral herpes, is most associated with the risk of dementia.
- Nearly 80% of the adult population in Sweden and 57% to 80% of adults in the United States carries that type.
Anyone who has received a herpes diagnosis may be twice as likely to develop dementia than people who have not, according to a new study from Uppsala University in Sweden.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, followed 1,000 70-year-old subjects for 15 years and confirmed previous research about the associations with the herpes virus and dementia.
Herpes results from infection with the herpes simplex virus (HSV), of which there are two types. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) causes oral herpes, affecting the mouth and surrounding skin but also potentially the genital region. Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) typically causes genital herpes and is usually sexually transmitted. Nearly
Dementia is a wide term for cognitive decline disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. It is associated with aging but is not a usual part of getting older.
Erika Vestin, a lead author of the study and a Ph.D. student at Uppsala University, told Medical News Today that the research confirms prior knowledge about the connections between dementia and herpes, but causality is still not concrete.
“We still do not have answers regarding causal mechanisms of this association, whether the virus causes the disease or if there is an indirect link,” Vestin said.
“Further, the association remains to be studied in different social and ethnic groups, and potential effects of herpes drugs on dementia risk need to be investigated in…
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