The brain has it's own microbiome

[threezees]

apple.news/AsuJ2MoqnQBClkrl...

Fascinating article. My husband with PD has a history of brain infections and brain traumas so this may apply to his case of Parkinson's which followed from being disabled with Post-Viral Encephalopathy for many years.

[park_bear]

Only for Apple users: "For the best reading experience, open this story on a device with Apple News. It may also be available on the publisher’s website."

[threezees in reply to park_bear]

Sorry about that. I went to the source and it said for subscriber's only so I don't have another link.

[threezees]

Basically they are finding loads of viral, fungal, bacterial stuff in post-mortem brain tissue which is much worse in Alzheimer's brains. They hypothesize that Alpha-synuclein proteins are part of the brain's process to eradicate or control these pathogens.

"One finding hinting at this is that the alpha-synuclein proteins associated with Parkinson’s disease also have antimicrobial properties. “When you knock them out in the mice, the mice are more sensitive to brain infections,” says Link. Like beta-amyloid, alpha‑synuclein may enhance survival in the short term, but – for reasons that are currently unknown – the process could spiral out of control in some people."

There is a case study of one woman's dementia that was reversed with targeted antibiotics after they tested her for various pathogens.

The implication is that vaccines and anti-virals, etc may reduce the brain's burden of pathogens thereby helping prevent or reversing some neurodegenerative diseases. The older people get, the more burden in the brain there is. Whew! There's a lot more there but that's a brief nutshell.

[park_bear in reply to threezees]

Interesting. Is there a link to the study, or the name of the study?

[threezees in reply to park_bear]

Here's a couple links: I made a PDF of the article and put it in my Google Drive and made it public. If there's a better way to share a PDF, let me know. drive.google.com/file/d/1sI...

The lady that had her dementia reversed (Nikki Schultek) is now a patient advocate and is giving talks on her case. Here she is giving a presentation on YouTube:

youtu.be/A1ADjcp9k6I?si=MOK...(Not working as expected?)

[park_bear in reply to threezees]

Thank you so much for going to the trouble of doing that!

Excellent article - I agree with the contention of the article that amyloid is the brain's defense against pathogens. This is true throughout the body - in the case of prostate infection, corpora amylacea - amyloid bodies - are the result there as they are in the brain.

[Eryl]

Just as important in not more is to eat a good diet containing lots of vitamins, nutrients and free of processed food so that you support the body's innate protective system and to get plenty of direct sunlight to support the immune system.