Here's a link to an article about Alzheimer's being linked to the herpes virus that causes cold sores and especially to people with the APOE 4 allele. My lady has always had cold sores and I would say she has the apoe4 because of her Down Syndrome.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33...alzheimers_disease//

I remember reading about this some time ago, but they didn't mention the connection to the APOE4 allele. Here's the article I read:

Cold Sore Virus Linked To Alzheimer's Disease: New Treatment, Or Even Vaccine Possible

ScienceDaily (Dec. 7, 2008) — The virus behind cold sores is a major cause of the insoluble protein plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease sufferers, University of Manchester researchers have revealed... Most people are infected with this virus, which then remains life-long in the peripheral nervous system, and in 20-40% of those infected it causes cold sores. Evidence of a viral role in AD would point to the use of antiviral agents to stop progression of the disease... The team discovered that the HSV1 DNA is located very specifically in amyloid plaques: 90% of plaques in Alzheimer's disease sufferers' brains contain HSV1 DNA, and most of the viral DNA is located within amyloid plaques. The team had previously shown that HSV1 infection of nerve-type cells induces deposition of the main component, beta amyloid, of amyloid plaques. Together, these findings strongly implicate HSV1 as a major factor in the formation of amyloid deposits and plaques, abnormalities thought by many in the field to be major contributors to Alzheimer's disease...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.../12/081207134109.htm

There was discussion also that lauric acid might inhibit the virus, and that some people mentioned that after adding the coconut oil to their diets, they had less cold sore outbreaks.

Very interesting. My partner, who has early-onset Alzheimer's, has been plagued by cold sores for years.

He's now been on CO/MCT for just over two months and, now that I think of it, he has not had a cold sore during that time.

My bro, who is carrying the APOE4, has had cold sores his entire adult life. Since he's been here with me, he hasn't had one. I did have him on the coconut oil/mct oil for a good month or two back in the spring/summer. Hasn't had it for a while, tho.

I have to wonder, though, how does this tie into the possibility that interrupting the effects of TNF-alpha, either by medication (Enbrel) or eliminating the source (e.g. eliminating an H.pylor infection), will halt the progression of AD? I keep thinking that if you have one of these infections, not both, you are likely to get some neurodegenerative disease, but not AD. If you have both, then AD develops.

This should also mean that stopping the infection stops the disease. I suppose a virus could somehow weaken a cell, making it susceptible to deterioration later. In that case, eliminating the virus would not prevent damaged cells from declining.

I posted this in the other thread by mistake. So I'm re-posting it here.

The more that I read, the more that I am becoming convinced that in the beginning of whatever is the initial trigger that starts the process of AD, is that it is some type of long lasting inflammation or infection. The TNF - A may be what breaks down first and allows the inflammation to take place which then invades all of the properties of the cells or neurons which then causes different problems.

It may also be more than one type of bacteria or virus goes wrong and starts the process that destroys the brain. It could be that when these triggers go off, they start a domino effect that eventually leads to the tau tangles, the amyloid plaques, glucose intolerance etc. that leads to the death of the neurons in the brain. People with the APOE4 allele may be much more susceptible to the inflammation than others, because their TNF -A is more out of whack then other people. Just a theory of mine and no proof.

You'll have to excuse me for this post if it doesn't make sense because I'm sleep deprived and not thinking real clear right now.

Another thought I had was that if different virus/bacteria are the culprits, that may be why some treatments or homeopathic treatments will work for one person but not for another. Like I said, this is just my sleep deprived theory.

I totally agree that there are probably different culprits in different people and that different treatments will work better in some people than in others.
My Grandma with AD is 93 and I don't ever remember her having a cold sore. She does have heart disease and had a heart attack years and years ago and I've read that the APOE4 allele could be linked to heart disease as well, so maybe she carries that gene? Who knows, certainly not I.