Thanks again for sharing. Interesting.

interesting, but I didnt find any relationship between h pylori and dementia on medscape.

http://www.springerlink.com/co...ab4620921dcd1e6&pi=2

check this out

Quite a few pathogens have been linked to AD, and there have been a number of clinical trials on the use of various antibiotics to treat it, with varying results.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/574944

This particular paper shows H. pylori linked to Parkinson's, but does not have references re AD.

I found a number of papers that tied Helicobacter pylori to AD as a possible risk factor, for example:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19326283

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16567719

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15522573

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16979298

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17718688

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16978795

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15172742

http://www.alzheimersanddement...26006029256/fulltext

http://www.alzheimersanddement...26008022590/fulltext

I also found studies that link H. pylori to a number of other neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis, as well as seizure disorders such as epilepsy.

The question, though, might be whether patients with these disorders are somehow more susceptible to developing H. pylori infections, as opposed to H. pylori causing them or contributing to their development somehow.

One study appears to show that successful treatment of H pylori infections can be beneficial:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19240960

Kountouras J, Boziki M, Gavalas E, Zavos C, Grigoriadis N, Deretzi G, Tzilves D, Katsinelos P, Tsolaki M, Chatzopoulos D, Venizelos I. Eradication of Helicobacter pylori may be beneficial in the management of Alzheimer's disease. J Neurol. 2009 May;256(5):758-67.
Infectious agents have been proposed as potential causes of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, we documented a high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection in patients with AD. We aim to access the effect of Hp eradication on the AD cognitive (MMSE: Mini Mental State Examination and CAMCOG: Cambridge Cognitive Examination for the Elderly) and functional (FRSSD: Functional Rating Scale for Symptoms of Dementia) status parameters. In the first part of the study, a total of 50 consecutive patients with AD and 30 age-matched anaemic controls underwent an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, and gastric mucosal biopsies were obtained to detect the presence of Hp infection by histologic analysis and rapid urease test. Serum anti-Hp-specific IgG level was analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In the second part, Hp-positive AD patients received a triple eradication regimen (omeprazole, clarithromycin and amoxicillin), and all patients were followed up for 2 years, while under the same treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors. Hp was detected in 88% of AD patients and in 46.7% of controls (P < 0.001). Hp eradication was successful in 84.8% of treated patients. At the 2-year clinical endpoint, cognitive and functional status parameters improved in the subgroup of patients where Hp eradication was successful (P < 0.001 and P = 0.049 for MMSE and CAMCOG, respectively; P < 0.001 for FRSSD), but not in the other patients. Hp eradication may positively influence AD manifestations, suggesting a possible common link between Hp and AD.

What'd you just call me?

J/K, but I did go the linked site in the OP, and read up, and came away thinking: "Why not?"

Wasn't Rogaine a blood pressure drug before we started smearing it on our scalps to grow hair???

So maybe the right drug is already here, but we're not using it for AD!

It's the moldy-bread/penicillin thing, maybe????

If it helps the helicopter priority, maybe it could help us.

:shrug:

Worth a try, right?

Thanks,

Bill

PS: BTW, when I married Dondra - I also married a Saba Dealer?

That's pomegranite juice (among other stuff), so we're trying it so see if it works on me. I'll let y'all know.....

Perhaps this has been discussed on that huge long Enbrel thread in the Medications/Treatments board...

When I tried the link provided in the first article to the SpringerLink site, the paper could not be found. So, I typed "helicobacter" in the search box. Of course, thousands of listings are found for that word. I happened to run across one that mentioned that HP caused an increase in "TNF-alpha". Isn't that what Enbrel is supposed to block?

And then there is this book by a guy named Tom Warren. He claims to have "cured" himself of AD. I found some of his writings online. In them, he says that one thing he did was have several "cavitations" in his jaw cleaned up. These are described as pockets of infection left over from infected teeth.

And then I remember reading somewhere that there is a correlation between bad teeth and having AD.

Remote infections cause the production of TNF, which then causes AD????

Maybe I'm seeing a pattern where one does not exist. How does one explain that treating glucose hypometabolism with ketones helps relieve symptoms? Why does Rember (methylene blue) help? How is the HSV-1 virus involved?

An interesting story about Helicobacter pylori and Pepto-Bismol. If I remember correctly, it turns out that the bismuth, the "Bismol" part, is toxic to the bacteria! For years and years and years everyone thought that ulcers were caused by acid and emotional stress. All along it was a bacteria. How many diseases could be the result of the body's fight against infection?

Another substance that might inhibit this TNF-alpha is "water-soluble chitosan". At one time, some people on the Medications/Treatments board were going to try to get some of this stuff and try it. I guess obtaining the "water-soluble" version of chitosan is difficult.

swarfmaker, Springer will not give free access to its articles. You have to contact the corresponding author and see if s/he will send you a .pdf or mail you a reprint.

Don't go planning on taking a lot of Pepto-Bismol to cure AD ... see:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12214012

Summers WK. Bismuth Toxicity Masquerading as Alzheimer's Dementia. J Alzheimers Dis. 1998 Mar;1(1):57-59

A 76-year old white married female had rapid onset dementia with myoclonus and was admitted to an HMO hospital where she was initially diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease. The physician- husband suggested that the condition might be due to the Pepto-Bismol which she had taken chronically to control her irritable bowel syndrome. An elevated serum bismuth level of 242 µg/L (normal is 5 µg/L) established bismuth toxicity as the cause of the dementia. With treatment the patient returned to a normal mental state. The possibility of bismuth encephalopathy needs to be considered in the differential diagnosis of possible Alzheimer's dementia.


One does not treat glucose hypometabolism with ketones per se. Mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced bioenergetic efficiency occur in the brains of AD patients (and patients with a number of other neurodegenerative disorders). Ketones are efficiently used by mitochondria for ATP generation -- i.e., are an alternate source of energy for the brain. Studies with mitochondria preparations, cell and tissue culture, and animal models indicate that ketone bodies may have many other beneficial effects, such as helping to protect vulnerable neurons from free radical damage, decreasing the expression of apoptotic and inflammatory mediators, and increasing the activity of neurotrophic factors.