Possibility of Lyme disease-Alzheimer's link

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

JAM - 09 Nov 2006 00:05 GMT

This May 06 posting attracted no interest. So I am suggesting it here.

Take a look!

http://groups.google.ca/group/sci.med.diseases.lyme/browse_frm/thread/c72c6b004c
15540/794acf2c5afec322?lnk=st&q=alzheimer%27s&rnum=1&hl=en#794acf2c5afec322

Reply to this Message

Alan Meyer - 09 Nov 2006 04:22 GMT

> This May 06 posting attracted no interest. So I am suggesting it here.
>
> Take a look!
>
> http://groups.google.ca/group/sci.med.diseases.lyme/browse_frm/thread/c72c6b004c
15540/794acf2c5afec322?lnk=st&q=alzheimer%27s&rnum=1&hl=en#794acf2c5afec322

If true, this is very, very surprising.

> He says there are structural and other
> similarities between Lyme cysts and Alzheimer's plaques.

If we know that some Alzheimer's plaques are not Lyme cysts,
and I think we do know that, then I would think that, by definition,
whatever brain problem Lyme disease causes, it's not
Alzheimer's but some other disease, i.e., Lyme disease.

I think we know they're not Lyme cysts because researchers
have autopsied patients and analyzed the plaques. If the
plaques were composed of bacterial cysts, wouldn't they
have seen that in their assays and electron micrographs?

Also, the mice that have been bred to develop the plaques
surely are not contaminated with Lyme bacteria. Do they have
some disease other than Alzheimer's?

But then, 30 years ago, who would have thought that ulcers
were caused by a bacterial infection?

It's worth pursuing every plausible avenue of research, including
this one. But I'm pretty skeptical about it.

Alan

Reply to this Message

Evelyn Ruut - 09 Nov 2006 10:52 GMT

>> This May 06 posting attracted no interest. So I am suggesting it here.
>>
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> Alan

Me too. Lyme is caused by a spirochete, similar to that which causes
syphilis. That disease can also cause brain damage. I think that the
article above is a mixup in terminology. If they said that Lyme could also
cause "dementia" I would say that is probably correct. But saying it
causes "alzheimers" which is a specific KIND of dementia, (alzheimers being
a disease with particular markers that are only discernable by an autopsy of
the actual brain tissue) that would be incorrect. Lots of things can cause
dementia.

Signature

Best Regards,

Evelyn
(to reply to me personally, remove 'sox')

Reply to this Message

Dennis P. Harris - 09 Nov 2006 09:01 GMT

> This May 06 posting attracted no interest.

probably because it's a meaningless post about an article that
says a researcher had a totally unproven idea. hardly worth the
bandwidth.

PLONK.

Reply to this Message