Joined: 4/24/2012
Posts: 484
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I have pulled together supporting evidence for what may be a primary causal factor for Alzheimer's - the elimination of beneficial bacteria from our environment and subsequently our bodies. This "Hygiene Hypothesis," as it is known, is well accepted as contributing to many autoimmune-related disorders like allergies, asthma, inflamatory bowel disease, etc., but now Alzheimer's has also been linked to autoimmune dysfunction, and think rightly so. It makes sense with all that we know about the pathology of Alzheimer's: oxidative damage, inflamation, overactive immune response or lack of immune system function, microbes found in the AD brain, formation of placks (possibly to compensate for oxidative stress), regulation of metals (mercury, copper, aluminum, zinc), link to diabetes, and connections to nutritional deficiencies come to mind. It all ties in to the immune system. Look at the evidence below for the Hygiene Hypothesis and see if you agree that there may be a connection to Alzheimer's.
Mechanisms of Disease: the hygiene
hypothesis revisited
“In industrialized countries the incidence of diseases
caused by immune dysregulation has risen. Epidemiologic studies initially
suggested this was connected to a reduction in the incidence of infectious
diseases; however, an association with defects in immunoregulation is now being
recognized. Effector TH1 and TH2 cells are controlled by
specialized subsets of regulatory T cells. Some pathogens can induce regulatory
cells to evade immune elimination, but regulatory pathways are homeostatic and
mainly triggered by harmless microorganisms…These organisms cause little, if
any, harm, and have been part of human microecology for millennia; however,
they are now less frequent or even absent in the human environment of
westernized societies. Deficient exposure to these 'old friends' might explain
the increase in immunodysregulatory disorders.”
http://www.nature.com/nrgastro/journal/v3/n5/full/ncpgasthep0471.html
The ‘hygiene
hypothesis’ for autoimmune and allergic diseases: an update
“According to the ‘hygiene hypothesis’, the decreasing
incidence of infections in western countries and more recently in developing
countries is at the origin of the increasing incidence of both autoimmune and
allergic diseases…Underlying mechanisms are multiple and complex. They include
decreased consumption of homeostatic factors and immunoregulation, involving
various regulatory T cell subsets and Toll-like receptor stimulation. These
mechanisms could originate, to some extent, from changes in microbiota caused
by changes in lifestyle, particularly in inflammatory bowel diseases. Taken
together, these data open new therapeutic perspectives in the prevention of
autoimmune and allergic diseases.”
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2249.2010.04139.x/full
Modulating immune responses with probiotic
bacteria
“For many years, probiotic bacteria have been known to
confer health benefits to the consumer. One possible mechanism for this may be
the ability of probiotic bacteria to modulate immune responses. Oral
administration of Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) has been
found to enhance innate immunity by stimulating the activity of splenic NK
cells.”
http://www.nature.com/icb/journal/v78/n1/abs/icb200010a.html
This next interesting report was in the news today:
Dichlorophenol-containing pesticides and
allergies: results from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
“High urine levels of dichlorophenols are associated with
the presence of sensitization to foods in a US population. Excessive use of
dichlorophenols may contribute to the increasing incidence of food allergies in
westernized societies.”
http://www.annallergy.org/article/S1081-1206%2812%2900671-0/abstract
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Joined: 12/20/2011
Posts: 217
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Serenoa, thanks.
The potential helpfulness of probiotic supplements is very interesting.
And below is an article I just noticed this morning. It's about 2 new projects to try to discover how different kinds of intestinal microflora affect our health, and how diet and lifestyle may be able to modify them.
Tapping citizen-scientists for a novel gut
check
By LAURAN NEERGAARD | Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The bacterial zoo inside your gut could look
very different if you're a vegetarian or an Atkins dieter, a couch potato or an
athlete, fat or thin.
Now for a fee — $69 and up — and a stool sample, the curious can find out just what's living in their intestines and take part in one of the hottest new fields in
science.
Wait a minute: How many average Joes really want to pay for the privilege of
mailing such, er, intimate samples to scientists?
A lot, hope the researchers running two novel citizen-science projects.
One, the American Gut Project, aims to enroll 10,000 people — and a bunch of their dogs and cats too — from around the country. The other, uBiome, separately aims to enroll nearly 2,000 people from anywhere in the world.
"We're finally enabling people to realize the power and value of bacteria in
our lives," said microbiologist Jack Gilbert of the University of Chicago and
Argonne National Laboratory. He's one of a team of well-known scientists
involved with the American Gut Project.
Don't be squeamish: Yes, we share our bodies with trillions of microbes,
living communities called microbiomes. Many of the bugs, especially those in the
intestinal tract, play indispensable roles in keeping us healthy, from good
digestion to a robust immune system.
But which combinations of bacteria seem to keep us healthy? Which ones might
encourage problems like obesity, diabetes or irritable bowel syndrome?
And do diet and lifestyle affect those microbes in ways that we might control
someday?...
Much more here: http://news.yahoo.com/tapping-citizen-scientists-novel-gut-check-071130480.html
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Joined: 12/12/2011
Posts: 4854
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Thank you Serenoa for this information and onward, too. Probiotics may also limit stress responses in the brain and if this is the case it might be helpful for brain function.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201206/do-probiotics-help-anxiety
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Joined: 12/20/2011
Posts: 217
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Thanks, Lane.
Here's something else interesting:
Can taking probiotics improve your mental health?
... several neurochemicals (normally produced by the brain)
that are also produced by various probiotics in the gut:
Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium --- GABA
Escherichia, Bacillus, Saccharomyces --- Norepinephrine
Candida, Streptococcus, Escherichia, Enterococcus --- Serotonin
Bacillus, Serratia --- Dopamine
Lactobacillus --- Acetylcholine
More here:
http://www.kurzweilai.net/can-taking-probiotics-improve-your-mental-health
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Joined: 4/24/2012
Posts: 484
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This is all good information. I thank both of you very much. I'm going to keep going down this road looking for more clues and trying to make connections. Like aromatherapy, this is something I can try not only on my mom but on me too! And it doesn't cost $1,000 a treatment like the Leukine.
I liked the epidemiology associated with the copper theory we discussed a while back (use of copper in western industrialized countries causing AD), but was unconvinced that copper was the causal agent. This hygiene hypothesis seems much more plausible.
Remember the research on blood factors affecting AD:? young blood in old mice improving mental function, as well as the anecdotal account of the blood transfusion improving AD. It seems likely that blood composition is closely related to activity in the gut.
If this is a cause of AD, it still has to be combined with some genetic predisposition which only becomes active in the elderly, like ApoE4. And if AD is autoimmune, why is there no remission as in other autoimmune disorders like Rhuematoid Authritis or Ulcerative Colitis? Is natural remission not noticed in AD because the patient just stops deteriorating for a while?
Thanks.
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