I was reading an article on neurodegenerative disorders and was alarmed because it was the first time I had heard about an infectious agent - prions - possibly causing the epidemic in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MSA, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob that countries such as the USA, Finland, and Iceland are experiencing. “There is now real evidence of the potential transmissibility of Alzheimer’s,” says Thomas Wiesniewski M.D. a prion and Alzheimer’s researcher at New York University School of Medicine. “In fact, this ability to transmit an abnormal conformation is probably a universal property of amyloid-forming proteins (prions).” (Source: "Alzheimer’s Disease Spreading Through Bodily Fluids" by Gary Chandler alzheimerdisease.tv) A statistic cited was that spouses of people with Alzheimer's are 600-percent more likely to also contract the disease. The primary methods of prion transmission are urine, feces, blood, mucous, and saliva. It made me think that there may be a connection between my deceased MIL's MSA and my FIL's cognitive downward spiral.
She stays at a steady weight
She exercises, walks, weights etc.
She makes great food choices (lots of veggies & salads and variety etc.)
She even does all the brain things like learning to be a flower show judge in her 60s (she had to study books and take tests etc.) Constantly challenging herself physically and mentally....and she still got Dementia.
Not that you shouldn't make all those choices for yourself, just saying, sometimes we do everything right and it is NOTHING we can control.
I think about that a lot. How much control do we really have?
My Mom's Dad had Parkinson's, she has Dementia, her brother has Alzheimer's...there is a good reason for me to suspect a genetic component exists. Now to think that maybe there is a transmissible form???
Anyway, my daughter did a research paper on a prion disease, so I asked her to see if she could find it, now I'm super curious.
But dementia is not new. Why haven't cases in the past triggered epidemics?
I am familiar with the statistics that caregivers, especially spouses, have a higher rate of dementia than the general population. The prion theory would fit that. I also think that if you have one family member with dementia you are far more aware of symptoms and far more likely to seek treatment for another family member that starts to show symptoms.
I am happy to see all possibilities thoroughly explored.
There have been periods throughout history when diabetes looked like an epidemic, when certain populations have had very high rates of the disease. This has been a case of a population experiencing similar conditions, rather than the disease being transmitted from person to person.
CJD - most cases are sporadic and very few are acquired. The quote below is from a website run by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
"In acquired CJD, the disease is transmitted by exposure to brain or nervous system tissue, usually through certain medical procedures. There is no evidence that CJD is contagious through casual contact with a CJD patient. Since CJD was first described in 1920, fewer than 1 percent of cases have been acquired CJD."
This means it is not highly transmissible, as was claimed by the webpage (alzheimerdisease.tv/alzheimers-disease-risk-by-country) that said that spouses of people with Alzheimer's are 600-percent more likely to also contract the disease. No reference was given for this figure.
I think there is a lot of hyperbole in this article. The more legitimate sources with the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and stroke say that research is ongoing.
Guest - you made reference to the 600% Can you provide more information about it?
I know several people my age, who have parents with Alzheimers. They don't seem to worry about themselves that much, but, I wonder if they do in secret. I would think it would enter your mind. None of my ancestors had (have) dementia, that I am aware of, but, some of them died before they were past 80. Does that count? Does young onset Alzheimers run in families too?
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