The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows

Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by SideburnsOfDoom on Sunday February 10, 2019 @11:32AM (#19128416)

Does this line of inquiry mesh at all with the idea that "Gum disease–causing bacteria could spur Alzheimer’s"

Or are they competing hypotheses?

reported here in January: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18987015

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by manmal on Sunday February 10, 2019 @11:47AM (#19128494)

My wife‘s grandmother had all her teeth pulled and replaced with implants (probably a hint towards lifelong gum issues, and PERHAPS stirring/aggravating infections), and 2 years later developed aggressive Alzheimer’s, dying about 3 years later. She was only 64 when she died. To my knowledge, she never had any neuro or eye surgery. It’s just n=1 of course, but to me the gum disease hypothesis looks way more promising.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by pbhjpbhj on Sunday February 10, 2019 @08:13PM (#19131349)

My relatives who had/have Alzheimer's haven't had any /reported/ gum disease [so I'm not ruling it out].

Age when teeth are pulled probably correlates well with age when Alzheimer's is first noticed.

It's like "newspapers cause cigarette addiction, people always buy cigarettes in stores where they sell newspapers" [apparent correlation; insufficient observation].

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by SubiculumCode on Sunday February 10, 2019 @12:41PM (#19128874)

Or perhaps infection by prions by metal dental equipment.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by manmal on Sunday February 10, 2019 @04:36PM (#19130199)

Unlikely because only eye and neuro tissue would carry prions for contamination of equipment, right? Dental equipment should never come in contact with such tissue.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by 1_over_n on Sunday February 10, 2019 @08:23PM (#19131383)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18648043

There was another HN thread about the "indestructibility" of prions, and I believe there is a growing consensus that they are not removed by existing techniques within dentistry.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by b_tterc_p on Sunday February 10, 2019 @06:52PM (#19130942)

Aren’t gums chock full of nervous tissues?

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by manmal on Monday February 11, 2019 @02:45AM (#19132689)

Oh yes, you are right. I hope this whole issue will trigger some research. With these massive costs for Alzheimer's treatment coming towards them, even insurances should be interested in real advancements by now.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by koheripbal on Monday February 11, 2019 @06:39PM (#19139628)

The upper palate has a direct line into the brain to facilitate smelling neurons. It is conceivable that a surgical operation on the upper teeth might cross contaminate patients.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by IAmGraydon on Sunday February 10, 2019 @10:40PM (#19131881)

Your hypothesis doesn’t make much sense to me. Why wouldn’t you assume that something about the surgery caused Alzheimer’s since that is what directly preceded its onset?

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by leoh on Monday February 11, 2019 @01:41AM (#19132507)

I think it's not the surgery, it's that the surgery was required due to gum disease

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by IAmGraydon on Monday February 11, 2019 @04:41PM (#19138622)

Right - I understand that. I'm asking why you would assume that gum disease caused Alzheimer's since it appears that CURING it directly preceded the Alzheimer's.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by manmal on Friday February 22, 2019 @03:47AM (#19223948)

Because pulling all teeth is a sign that you had life-long problems with infections in the mouth area.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by saluki on Sunday February 10, 2019 @05:10PM (#19130419)

We had a family member have all their teeth pulled and go with dentures/implants and it seems to have triggered aggressive Alzheimers as well.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by IAmGraydon on Sunday February 10, 2019 @10:42PM (#19131887)

What evidence do you have to support that hypothesis?

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by dzink on Sunday February 10, 2019 @12:43PM (#19128884)

Could be correlated if it is transmissible. Gum disease could be an access vector for prions into the nerve system and the brain.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by autokad on Sunday February 10, 2019 @02:35PM (#19129537)

well, Alzheimer's has been highly correlated with diabetes (which diabetes is correlated with gum disease), so its hard to tell. If I were to guess, given if there is a correlation with gum disease and Alzheimer's, I would bet my money that what ever causes gum disease also causes at least some Alzheimer's - not that being treated for gum disease causes it.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by chiefalchemist on Sunday February 10, 2019 @02:42PM (#19129567)

Diabetes 1 or 2?

If #2 then I'd venture to say that in many / most cases that correlates with abuse of sweets (read: sugar) which would all effect the teeth (and perhaps in turn the gums).

It's unlikely that simple. That said , I'd venture to say aggregate increase in sugar consumption correlates to increases in Alzheimer's. Yes, as do plenty of other mod cons.

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by sugarpile on Sunday February 10, 2019 @10:09PM (#19131773)

My concern is that having general high amounts of inflammation in your body alone increases your risk for Alzheimer's. As someone with inflammation diseases galore (including gum disease), I hope I'm just making inferences where there's no data to support them. Anyone know if that's the case?

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by SideburnsOfDoom on Sunday February 10, 2019 @01:23PM (#19129141)

And related, does all of this mean that it is a good time for research into the causes of Alzheimer's because of lots of promising ideas, or a bad time, because there's no consensus?

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Re:The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows by nubslayer on Sunday February 10, 2019 @12:55PM (#19128975)

I think some of it may be communication of "mental illness".

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