More evidence emerges for 'transmissible Alzheimer's' theory

Re:More evidence emerges for 'transmissible Alzheimer's' theory by JoshTriplett on Tuesday January 26, 2016 @04:58PM (#10976456)

Somewhat misleading headline; critical quote from the article: "Neither study implies that Alzheimer’s disease could ever be transmitted through normal contact with caretakers or family members, the scientists emphasize."

This study purely covered transmission via a specific kind of transplant. Still important for understanding the disease, though.

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Re:More evidence emerges for 'transmissible Alzheimer's' theory by ars on Tuesday January 26, 2016 @05:38PM (#10976781)

But another critical part is that this might be transmitted by surgical instruments, which apparently can not be cleaned well enough.

That would be huge if true.

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Re:More evidence emerges for 'transmissible Alzheimer's' theory by hammock on Tuesday January 26, 2016 @05:47PM (#10976852)

> surgical instruments, which apparently can not be cleaned well enough.

It's a problem. Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10171077

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Re:More evidence emerges for 'transmissible Alzheimer's' theory by noobie on Wednesday January 27, 2016 @01:57AM (#10978674)

>transmitted by surgical instrument

I admit am a biology noob, but doesn't that imply that the cause is a Virus/bacteria or some sort of agent?

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Re:More evidence emerges for 'transmissible Alzheimer's' theory by ars on Wednesday January 27, 2016 @02:01AM (#10978686)

That's what this article is claiming. Too early to really know.

And it might be like a prion: A bad protein, rather than a living organism.

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Re:More evidence emerges for 'transmissible Alzheimer's' theory by adrianN on Wednesday January 27, 2016 @06:15AM (#10979461)

And prions are for some reason really hard to kill. Autoclaving only "somewhat" deactivates them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prion#Sterilization

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Re:More evidence emerges for 'transmissible Alzheimer's' theory by frozenport on Tuesday January 26, 2016 @09:27PM (#10977814)

This isn't true, many surgical instruments are disposed after use. Here is a picture of a needle: http://forums.steroid.com/attachments/anabolic-steroids-ques...

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Re:More evidence emerges for 'transmissible Alzheimer's' theory by ars on Tuesday January 26, 2016 @10:44PM (#10978063)

> many surgical instruments are disposed after use

What do you mean "isn't true", what about the ones that aren't disposed of?

Since some are disposed of, that means I should somehow not worry about that ones that aren't?

And that picture is misleading.

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Re:More evidence emerges for 'transmissible Alzheimer's' theory by ambicapter on Tuesday January 26, 2016 @09:59PM (#10977911)

The last picture in that set is at a higher magnification than the three others.

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