Searching for the root causes of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease requires a researcher to keep an open mind, including the possibility that a virus could be behind such disabling diseases. Researchers suspect from recent studies that head trauma could be waking up viruses like herpes simplex type 1 and varicella zoster (chickenpox virus) in brains, viruses which then trigger chronic inflammation, leading to the diseases we eventually diagnose. Could the addition of viral therapies be on the horizon for post-concussion treatment?
Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are ravaging millions as well as stealing loved ones from families. Once these diseases have damaged the patient’s brains, even mild recovery can be difficult and full recovery rarely possible (although we have seen many improve greatly with mold detox or Lyme therapy). Ongoing research longs for the day when we can identify the disease process in its early stages and intervene before irreparable damage occurs.
The findings in this study from Tufts University and Oxford University could open up new frontiers in this search for early intervention. Building on the fact that we have countless viruses circulating through us and through our gut microbiome (bacteria living in our colon that have their own set of viral friends and foes), other scientists wondered what triggers might awaken such viruses that were other dormant or non-destructive. Situations of immune suppression have been found to do this in some cases.
In earlier research, one of this study’s authors had found that reactivated Herpes Simplex 1 (HSV1) could produce Alzheimer’s type pathology in mice brains. This included amyloid plaques, neuronal loss, inflammation, and changes in brain function.
In this study, they created artificial brain structures and subjected them to simulated concussive trauma in a tube. For the cells with HSV-1 present but dormant, the physical trauma resulted in amyloid plaques and tau-tangles like Alzheimer’s in these artificial brains. Those cells without HSV-1 did not demonstrate these changes.
While far more research is needed in animal and human experiments, this does open up major questions and potential for the 69 million people per year worldwide that suffer from concussions or head trauma. One day, the standard of care for future prevention of neurodegenerative disease after head trauma may include anti-viral therapy.
For now, as we treat a number of our own patients’ post-concussions, we will look at whether some basic anti-viral therapies, natural or pharmaceutical, may be appropriate especially if someone has a family history of such a disease. Helping patients live healthier, more abundant lives requires both treatment and prevention.
Original Source:
Dana M. Cairns, Brooke M. Smiley, Jordan A. Smiley, Yasaman Khorsandian, Marilyn Kelly, Ruth F. Itzhaki, David L. Kaplan. Repetitive injury induces phenotypes associated with Alzheimer’s disease by reactivating HSV-1 in a human brain tissue model. Science Signaling, 2025; 18 (868) DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.ado6430
Thanks to Science Daily:
Tufts University. “Study shows head trauma may activate latent viruses, leading to neurodegeneration.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 January 2025. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/01/250107140857.htm>.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
