Study: Common virus tied to Alzheimer’s disease

Contracting a common virus may play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study has found. The study of the brains of older adults found an association between patients’ immune responses to cytomegalovirus (CMV) and signs of Alzheimer’s disease. “More studies are still needed to understand how an active CMV infection might be related to this most common form of dementia,” said study researcher Dr Julie Schneider, of the Rush University Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago. The study did not show a cause-and-effect link between CMV and Alzheimer’s, LiveScience reported. It is possible that other stimulants of inflammation, including other viral infections, might also lead to the brain changes seen in the study, which could cause a decline in cognitive function leading to Alzheimer’s disease, researchers said. CMV is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, including sexual contact. In the new study, Schneider and her colleagues analysed blood and cerebrospinal fluid (brain- and...