[paula_w]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...ed-brains.html

Bird flu virus linked to inflamed brains

* 12:58 12 August 2009 by Isabelle Kaufmann
* For similar stories, visit the Epidemics and Pandemics and Bird Flu Topic Guides

As if fever, aching muscles and a sore throat were not enough, researchers have found that flu may also lead to chronic neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

[reverett123]

First a quote from the above-
"Hard evidence of such a link has been hard to find, however. So Richard Smeyne of the St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, sprayed a solution containing a highly pathogenic subtype of H5N1 avian flu into the noses of 225 mice. The team found that the virus infected nerves in the gut, then entered the brain stem and finally reached the brain. In the brain, it led to chronic activation of the immune system, even long after the viral infection had been cleared.

This immune system activity later led to protein aggregation and neuron loss in the brain, and to symptoms like tremor and loss of coordination – the hallmarks of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's."

This is PRECISELY what would be predicted by the work of the German researcher Braak (who possibly just won a Nobel). It is also very much like the polio virus. This is bigger than it looks.

[BEMM]

wow - that makes even more sense than all the other plausible causes

[paula_w]

i have feelings about this swine flu,,,,call me a conspiracy freak but i get the feeling it's targeting something. its timing is just different.

paula

[paula_w]

Back to topic: Gut cells are better hit with bacterial infections and such than our brains i guess. but it shows that as it goes thru the gut, some neuron cells are there. Renewal all along the way?

so where else are cells strategically placed? it's so very interesting.

p

[reverett123]

The enteric (GI) nervous system is almost as complex as the brain (CNS). It is connected to the CNS by a single bundle of neurons called the vagal nerve. Cut the vagus and the enteric system keeps on going - it is autonomous.

Braak found that the first lewy bodies in PD showed up in two places - the olfactory bulb and the wall of the stomach. These two places have high exposure to the environment. Then the Lewy bodies appear along the vagus into the brain stem and progressively into the brain. Something enters from the outside and marches through like Sherman heading for the sea. That is what this new paper reports observing. But the virus was gone in ten days. What it left behind was a sensitized immune system with microglia (brain defenders) spoiling for a fight. The chemicals they put out damage neurons after a time. They also interfere with brain function.

Remember Ron's bad tooth? The tooth had nothing to do with his brain, but the chemicals from that infection were sensed by the microglia which kicked them into overdrive and Ron was incapacitated, not by new damage but by the chemical response in his brain. some of our day to day symptoms are caused by this. Infection in the periphary triggers a response in the brain.

That was the legacy left by this flu strain. But that doesn't mean that the flu is the sole cause of PD. Any thing that can set up the microglia sensitization could produce a similar effect. One thing known to do it is prenatal exposure to the bacterial endotoxins I talk about so much.

Another possible culprit is our old buddy H.pylori. After all, it is the only thing that actually lives in the stomach wall where those first Lewy bodies show up.

But it seems to be the response rather than the stimulus. That's good for us in that we have a single target to aim for - inhibiting the reaction. Even if it comes from a dozen possible sources, it can be blocked at the downstream end.

A question: How many have had the flu SINCE becoming diagnosed? I wonder if the immunity worked in our favor.

Originally Posted by paula_w

Back to topic: Gut cells are better hit with bacterial infections and such than our brains i guess. but it shows that as it goes thru the gut, some neuron cells are there. Renewal all along the way?

so where else are cells strategically placed? it's so very interesting.

p

[paula_w]

I had the flu since diagnosis; it was horrible. I've gotten a flu shot every year since.

paula

[pkell]

I've never had the flu. Even with family members down and deadly I haven't gotten it. Always attributed that to natural immunity.

[caldeerster]

But I am quite sure that this is exactly what happened with me. I believe Parkinson's needs multiple insults to develop, and that tnf-a inflammation from flu like illness and/or drug exposure "prime" the CNS so that the second or third insult results in an inflammatory response that provokes a cell cascade.

I hope this piece gets a lot of exposure, so that researchers understand the process.

I know without any doubt that the article outlines precisely the disease development that occurs in at least some (idiopathic) PWP.

[paula_w]

caldeerster,

is there a study on this? i just read tnf somewhere else. Also wanted to let you know that neurologix called me and i knew more than the clinical person did..understandably....but it is gabba they are working with and matt during? the doctor- has a vent on pdonline research about gdnf - says its time to give it up.

i see you did define it but what else should we know about it?
http://www.pdonlineresearch.org/resp...ost-believe-so

paula


oh never mind i found some - this is what is making me indecisive about trying duodopa will it wreak havoc on what's left of my dopamine production or is that already done?

http://igene.invitrogen.com/iGene/br...3000000053663s

Originally Posted by caldeerster

But I am quite sure that this is exactly what happened with me. I believe Parkinson's needs multiple insults to develop, and that tnf-a inflammation from flu like illness and/or drug exposure "prime" the CNS so that the second or third insult results in an inflammatory response that provokes a cell cascade.

I hope this piece gets a lot of exposure, so that researchers understand the process.

I know without any doubt that the article outlines precisely the disease development that occurs in at least some (idiopathic) PWP.