Is Alzheimer's disease due to an infection?
594503
Alzheimer's disease is due to decrease activity of acetylcholine producing cells in a  certain part of the brain due to the continuous destruction of these cells, some new researches showed that it might have a link with some other neurotransmitters too like serotonin  and perhaps dopamine, as giving the patients centrally acting acetylcholine agonists only improves the case for a  short period of time and might slow the process of the disease a little bit but the cell distructions cannot be stopped and that's why there is no cure for it until this day.
638454
Alzheimers is not genetic. It results from a lack of fat covering the nerves in the brain, called the myelin sheath.\nTo protect yourself from this disease, make sure you only use oil pressed from seeds or nuts, called expeller pressed) because the body cannot keep this myelin sheath thick if you use oil that has been heated over 120 degrees.\nAll commercial salad dressings, margarines, butter spreads have been heated this way. And never eat fried foods.
984086
Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. The inflammation is usually caused by bacteria or viruses (viral meningitis is also called aseptic meningitis). Less common causes include fungi, protozoa, and other parasites. Sometimes certain medications, cancers, or other diseases can inflame the meninges, although such noninfectious cases of meningitis are much rarer.\n\nMany of the bacteria or viruses that can cause meningitis are fairly common and are more often associated with other everyday illnesses. Sometimes, however, they spread to the meninges from an infection in another part of the body. The infection can start anywhere, including in the skin, gastrointestinal tract, or urinary system, but the most common source is the respiratory tract. From there the microorganisms can enter the bloodstream, travel through the body, and enter the central nervous system. In some cases of bacterial meningitis, the bacteria spread directly to the meninges from a severe nearby infection, such as a serious ear infection (otitis media) or nasal sinus infection (sinusitis). Bacteria may also enter the central nervous system after severe head trauma or head surgery.\n\nBacterial meningitis is less common than viral meningitis but is usually much more serious and can be life-threatening if not treated promptly. Many different types of bacteria can cause meningitis: Group B Streptococcus, Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes are the most common causes of meningitis in newborns. Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) and Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus) are more frequent in children older than 2 months of age. Before the 1990s, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) was the leading cause of meningitis in children in the United States. But the widespread use of the Hib vaccine as a routine childhood immunization has dramatically decreased the frequency of meningitis caused by Hib.\n\nViral meningitis is relatively common and far less serious than bacterial meningitis. It often remains undiagnosed because its symptoms are similar to those of the common flu. The frequency of viral meningitis increases slightly in the summer and fall months because people are more often exposed to common viral agents during those seasons. Most cases of viral meningitis are associated with enteroviruses - viruses that typically cause stomach "flu." However, many other types of viruses, such as the herpes virus, can also cause meningitis. The mumps virus was once a common cause of viral meningitis, but it is now rare due to the routine use of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.\n\nBacterial meningitis occurs in people of all ages but is more common in the very young (infants and young children) and the elderly (people above age 60). Teenagers and college students are also slightly more at risk for the disease because of time spent in close contact with many of their peers. Viral meningitis occurs in people of all ages, although it is more common in children.\n\nPeople with less competent immune systems, such as the very young or those whose immune systems have been compromised by disease, are more at risk for all types of meningitis. Some types are more common in child-care centers, boarding schools, dormitories, and military bases, mainly because infectious diseases tend to spread quickly among large groups of people. Not receiving routine vaccines for certain infectious agents that can cause meningitis - including those for mumps, Hib, and pneumococcus - also increases a person's risk for the disease.\n\nThe long-term outlook for children who develop meningitis varies greatly and depends on a child's age, the microorganism causing the infection, any other complications, and the treatment the child receives. The complications of bacterial meningitis can be severe and include neurological problems such as hearing loss, visual impairment, seizures, and learning disabilitie
671069
Acute "episodes" of a disease may be intense, but acute "diseases" merely mean they are short-lived.  There are relationships, in that an acute disease may trigger a chronic disease- These events are heavily researched now, because the link in some cases of acute illnesses and infections leading to an increased risk of developing chronic diseases is quite strong.  Head injuries or meningitis (infection of the meninges of the brain) increases risk of Alzheimer's disease and other chronic neurodegenerative diseases, which themselves are not *caused* by the original acute illness.  There are many other examples, but that is one way in which chronic and acute illnesses are related.\nAnother possibility is that a chronic disease, such as HIV infection (which is now chronic due to treatment) can lead to increased risk of an acute disease, such as infection or cancer.  The chronic condition colitis leads to an increase risk of colon cancer, the chronic disease high blood pressure leads to increase risk of an acute stroke, etc.\n*edit* Just a note-neuropathy is diagnosed by either pain or numbness, and neither signifies nerve death-it is a retraction of the axon terminal-the nerve itself remains alive and active.
527297
You didn't hear wrong.  There is a Pick's disease which is similar to Alzheimer's in that it causes dementia, but it affects more specific parts of the brain than Alzheimers.  It is much less common than Alzheimer's but is still 10% or so of patients with dementia.\n\nI linked to WebMD so you can read more about it.
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Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, irreversible brain disorder with no known cause or cure. It attacks and slowly steals the minds of its victims. Symptoms of the disease include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, personality changes, disorientation, and loss of language skills. Always fatal, Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of irreversible dementia. \n\nMore than 4.5 million Americans are believed to have Alzheimer’s disease and by 2050, the number could increase to 13.2 million. Approximately 59,000 victims die and 350,000 new cases of Alzheimer's disease are diagnosed each year. America is not alone in dealing with this terrible affliction. In every nation where life expectancy has increased, so has the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is becoming tragically common. It is estimated that there are currently 18 million people worldwide with Alzheimer’s disease. This figure is projected to nearly double by 2025 to 34 million people. \n\nAlzheimer's Disease Research (ADR), a program of the American Health Assistance Foundation, was established in 1985 to fund research on and educate the public about Alzheimer's disease. Since the program's inception, ADR has awarded more than $46.8 million to support promising research in fields ranging from molecular biology to epidemiology. AHAF is honored to have played a role in Dr. Stanley Prusiner's Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1997 for his landmark research on prions. More than $1.2 million in research grants has been awarded to Dr. Prusiner through its ADR program to develop his prion theory as a model for Alzheimer's disease. \n\nAlzheimer's disease has a long history, although the disease wasn't given a name until the collection of symptoms was first described during the early part of the 20th century. Hopefully, during the early part of the 21st century we will help find the cure.
517213
It used to be Alzheimer's Disease. Now, it's just Alzheimer.
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Symptoms of an Infection-\n\nUnexpected read or write operation. \nNot being able to save files. \nExperiencing long loading times. \nExperiencing Slow system operation. \nSeeing Unusual screen activities. \nBad sectors appearing. \nSeeing Unusual error messages. \nProgram fails to execute. \nComputer does not boot. \nSeeing larger program file sizes. \nSeeing strange file names. \nVirus can also-\n\nDelete or rename files or directories. \nChange the content of files. \nChange screen colors. \nFormat the hard drive.
194063
Has it been this way all your life, or did it seem to just come about?  How old are you?  Cognitive decline in the later years, combined with memory problems, might warrant a visit to the doctor to rule out Alzheimer's.  The headaches are not likely related, but it wouldn't be smart to rule it out.  Meningitis can cause confusion and headaches, but it's the type of thing that doesn't run a very long course.  \n\nIn the meantime, it couldn't hurt to make sure your nutrition is in line.  Take a vitamin, and make sure you're not starving yourself.  Caffeine has been shown to temporarily improve mental acuity, so you might consider this for a critical activity.  Then again, too much coffee will probably harm you physically more than it will help you mentally.\n\nGood luck, and try not to worry.  If you're really concerned about it, just have a visit to your primary care doc.
919767
get checked for Alzheimer's
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Symptoms can vary from person to person. Some common symptoms of Alzheimer's are:\n\n Memory loss\n Problems doing familiar tasks\n Problems with language\n Trouble knowing the time, date, or place\n Poor or decreased judgment\n Problems with abstract thinking\n Misplacing things often, such as keys\n Changes in mood and behavior\n Changes in personality\n Loss of interest in starting projects or doing\n things
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*Hunting a good source* Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia and accounts for at least half of all dementias. It causes about 23,000 deaths a year in the United States, making it the eighth leading cause of death in the elderly population. Alzheimer's disease is named after Alois Alzheimer, the German physician who identified it in 1907. The cause of Alzheimer's remains elusive and resistant many treatments.\n\nPeople with Alzheimer's disease have an atrophy of the cortical tissue within the brain. When examined at autopsy the brain shows abnormal fibers that appear to be tangles of brain tissue filaments (neurofibrillary tangles) and senile plaques (patches of degenerative nerve endings). This damage is believed to cause disruption to transmission of impulses amongst brain cells. It is this damage that is thought to produce the symptoms of the disease.\n\nPeople over the age of 65 are most frequently affected by Alzheimer's and it is termed ‘late onset’. So-called ‘early onset’, a very rare form of Alzheimer's disease can develop in people as young as 40 years and in middle age.\n\nAlzheimer’s begins with mild memory problems, attention lapses and difficulty in recalling words thus making communication more difficult. As the disease progresses simple tasks become difficult or impossible to achieve. Distant memories begin to fade, familiar faces often go unrecognised and changes in personality become noticeable.\nFor more see http://alzheimers.about.com/cs/diagnosisissues/a/what_alzheimers.htm
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Abnormally low levels of acetycholine have been observed in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.
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The short answer is "NO" and the reason is because in a social setting such as a family household or within a workplace statistics are not gathered.\nIt is only in settings such as hospitals or nursing homes or in the case of an epidemic that such facts are correlated and stats can be produced.\nHowever, in the years April to April 2005 - 2006 it was stated that there were 200 cases of unsourced infectious diarrhoea within nursing homes for the elderly in England and Wales (Scotland produces it's own stats) and 150 cases within NHS hospitals.\nIn total over 5000 people were affected including both staff and patients/residents.\nHope this helps.
955458
your body is susceptible to infection.
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Do you mean Alzheimer's?
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=========\ninterference with insulin production \n\nA sufficiently serious infection of the pancreas could cause enough destruction to induce Type 1 diabetes directly (destroyed beta cells, no insulin production). And, since Type 1 is most commonly an auto-immune disease in which the immune system has attacked and destroyed the insulin producing beta cells, anything which can start this misdirected response will do. Generally, it's thought  that it is viral infections which are mostly at fault: German measles, several of the Coxsackie family viruses, etc. It is probably not impossible that some bacterial infection could do more or less the same thing, but it's not generally seen clinically. \n\n=====================\nassociated issues\n\nThe increased glucose levels in the blood of diabetics are a help to many bacteria, so it's likely they will have an easier time being active in diabetics. And, diabetics very often have impaired  circulation which helps some bacterial infections since the immune system has reduced access to them. If this is bad enough, it can lead to the too common infections which are the cause of gangrene and of amputation. And, finally, there are some reports that diabetics' immune systems are somewhat less effective than non-diabetics'. But none of these are, quite, 'increased development of diabetes' due to bacterial infections.