Vaccines and Alzheimer's

real_aurgathor

Apparently, some researchers found that there is some association between certain vaccines and Alzheimer’s disease. This time; however, it’s a ‘good’ effect
Articles:
https://theconversation.com/thirty-years-on-our-research-linking-viral-infections-with-alzheimers-is-finally-getting-the-attention-it-deserves-254656
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/03/shingles-vaccination-dementia.html

Study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(96)10149-5/abstract

Edited to Comply with TOS

Sparkchaser

Interesting.
My mother had Alzheimer and I think she only had small pox and polio vaccines.

Somewhat-Reticent

Sparkchaser Maybe because it’s “new-ish”?

real_aurgathor

Sparkchaser

It’s a complex disease, and it’s possible that it has more than one root cause. We know quite a few things about it, and it definitely has some genetic component:

Late-onset Alzheimer’s is about 70% heritable.[57][58] Genetic models in 2020 predict Alzheimer’s disease with 90% accuracy.[59] Most cases of Alzheimer’s are not familial, and so they are termed sporadic Alzheimer’s disease.[60] Of the cases of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease, most are classified as late onset where they are developed after the age of 65 years.[61]

The strongest genetic risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer’s disease is APOEε4.[18] APOEε4 is one of four alleles of apolipoprotein E (APOE). APOE plays a major role in lipid-binding proteins in lipoprotein particles and the ε4 allele disrupts this function.[62] Between 40% and 80% of people with Alzheimer’s disease possess at least one APOEε4 allele.[63] The APOEε4 allele increases the risk of the disease by three times in heterozygotes and by 15 times in homozygotes.[64] Like many human diseases, environmental effects and genetic modifiers result in incomplete penetrance. For example, Nigerian Yoruba people do not show the relationship between dose of APOEε4 and incidence or age-of-onset for Alzheimer’s disease seen in other human populations.[65][66]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer's_disease

However, since not everyone with a genetic disposition gets Alzheimer’s, there must be some other factor(s). Research has long focused on amyloid beta and tau protein, but nowadays many researchers think that they’re not the cause, but a byproduct. This is where a latent effect of a previous viral infection can come into play, and apparently, more than one study seem to corroborate that, although more research is needed. In any case, Alzheimer’s as a latent result of a viral infection can nicely explain several aspects of AD.

urbanriot

real_aurgathor

It’s a complex disease, and it’s possible that it has more than one root cause

Indeed. Literally every year I read about a discovery that ‘changes the way we look at Alzheimers’ and I also read criticisms of earlier conclusions made by medical experts. As a result I read everything concerning Alzheimers with a grain of salt.

egeezer

urbanriot
Some of us who have seen friends as caretakers and patients suffering with it see this research and development with a feeling of hope.

real_aurgathor

urbanriot and I also read criticisms of earlier conclusions made by medical experts.

Can you provide some examples of those criticisms?

ugly95

real_aurgathor Apparently, some researchers found that there is some association between certain vaccines and Alzheimer’s disease.

There is more and more evidence that viral infections can be the cause of various diseases later in life.

Obviously, the connection between HPV and cancer is well-established.

There is evidence that multiple sclerosis is linked to Epstein-Barr virus (mono)

There is evidence that flu is connected to heart attacks and strokes

The suggestion that being infected is part of a healthy childhood, or that we should just let people get infected with a novel virus was always an absurd suggestion.

HooRU

ugly95 I agree. Why throw up your hands at viruses and not immunize all while running to a dentist when you gat a cavity? Getting treated is getting treated. I don’t understand the singling out of vaccines, which have been with us for a very long time.

Astyanax

real_aurgathor

real_aurgathor urbanriot and I also read criticisms of earlier conclusions made by medical experts.

Can you provide some examples of those criticisms?

Here:

Early this year, Schrag raised his doubts with NIH and journals including Nature; two, including Nature last week, have published expressions of concern about papers by Lesné. Schrag’s work, done independently of Vanderbilt and its medical center, implies millions of federal dollars may have been misspent on the research—and much more on related efforts. Some Alzheimer’s experts now suspect Lesné’s studies have misdirected Alzheimer’s research for 16 years.

“The immediate, obvious damage is wasted NIH funding and wasted thinking in the field because people are using these results as a starting point for their own experiments,” says Stanford University neuroscientist Thomas Südhof, a Nobel laureate and expert on Alzheimer’s and related conditions.

https://www.science.org/content/article/potential-fabrication-research-images-threatens-key-theory-alzheimers-disease

real_aurgathor

Astyanax

That is actually criticism of a likely fraudulent study, akin the to the “vaccine induced autism” study.

However, I did mention above: “Research has long focused on amyloid beta and tau protein, but nowadays many researchers think that they’re not the cause, but a byproduct.”

dave

urbanriot

Some problems are difficult problems.

broknsymetry

dave There are no difficult problems, just difficult solutions.

real_aurgathor

ugly95 The suggestion that being infected is part of a healthy childhood, or that we should just let people get infected with a novel virus was always an absurd suggestion.

But pandering outrageous ideas is a perfect vehicle to get clicks.

As an FYI, it’s well known in anti-vaxxer circles that some covid vaccines can cause myocarditis, but much less attention is paid to the fact unvaccinated individuals with COVID-19 infection are at least 11 times more at risk for developing myocarditis compared to vaccinated individuals.
https://newsroom.heart.org/news/myocarditis-risk-significantly-higher-after-covid-19-infection-vs-after-a-covid-19-vaccine

egeezer

Astyanax This is an example why studies and research needs to be open source and available for peer review. Processes, qualifications of researchers, data, selection criteria etc. need to be available for review and verified before treatments, recommendations and policy changes are made based on the studies being reviewed. Fortunately, the overwhelming body of Alzheimers research remains above board.

There are those who would bypass these safeguards and standards in favor of rushing to predetermined conclusions with faulty or fraudulent research. Their efforts to do so must be opposed in favor of objective science, unencumbered by external pressures by others to subvert it to their own ends.

Somewhat-Reticent

“The suggestion that being infected is part of a healthy childhood, or that we should just let people get infected with a novel virus was always an absurd suggestion.”

Before vaccines, exposure to mild cases while resistance is strong did serve.

telcodad

Somewhat-Reticent Before vaccines, exposure to mild cases while resistance is strong did serve.

It used to be when a child in the neighborhood came down with Chickenpox, a lot of the other mothers would have that child expose their kid(s) so as to get it over with while they were young, and not deal with getting the disease when they were older.

The same with Mumps, as men contracting that when older can potentially affect fertility.

Somewhat-Reticent

telcodad Also measles.

& ( as noted below ) this one is not a good idea now.

px_eliezer_

Somewhat-Reticent Before vaccines, exposure to mild cases while resistance is strong did serve.

In some cases.

But it was NOT the case at all for smallpox, measles, polio….and others

Smallpox:
30 percent of people with it died, and many who survived had serious issues.
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/about/index.html

Measles:
Extremely contagious, and while deaths are numerically rare, some people get brain damage from encephalitis, or a slow-motion fatal brain disease (SSPE) that can manifest years later.
https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/pediatrics-articles/measles-is-still-a-very-dangerous-disease

Polio:
Up to 5 percent of people get meningitis, some get paralysis and up to 10 percent of the people with paralysis will die. Of survivors, up to 40 percent will develop Post-Polio Syndrome years later!
https://www.cdc.gov/polio/about/index.html

Younger folks who never saw much of this (BECAUSE vaccines have provided great reduction of morbidity and mortality) often don’t fully “get” these issues.

When I trained in Pediatrics, the hospitals had many kids admitted with meningitis and also epiglottitis due to Haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB).

These are serious issues—but I bet the younger folks have never even heard of epiglottitis.

After the introduction of the Haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB) vaccine in the mid-1980’s, these illnesses are way down.

It’s a real success story that I’ve seen myself—but as with related issues, the success can be wiped out by complacency, ignorance, misinformation, manipulation, demagoguery, sophistry, and fear.

Astyanax

real_aurgathor That is actually criticism of a likely fraudulent study, akin the to the “vaccine induced autism” study.

…which future Alzheimer studies were built on make them flawed as well as I quoted directly from the study and posted but you still managed to not acknowledge.