Journal article
Can Infections Cause Alzheimer's Disease?
Epidemiologic reviews, Vol.35(1), pp.161-180
02/04/2013
DOI: 10.1093/epirev/mxs007
PMCID: PMC4707877
PMID: 23349428
Abstract
Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent cause of dementia among older adults, yet more than a century of research has not determined why this disease develops. One prevailing hypothesis is that late-onset AD is caused by infectious pathogens, an idea widely studied in both humans and experimental animal models. This review examines the infectious AD etiology hypothesis and summarizes existing evidence associating infectious agents with AD in humans. The various mechanisms through which different clinical and subclinical infections could cause or promote the progression of AD are considered, as is the concordance between putative infectious agents and the epidemiology of AD. We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, and EBSCO databases for research articles pertaining to infections and AD and systematically reviewed the evidence linking specific infectious pathogens to AD. The evidence compiled from the literature linking AD to an infectious cause is inconclusive, but the amount of evidence suggestive of an association is too substantial to ignore. Epidemiologic, clinical, and basic science studies that could improve on current understanding of the associations between AD and infections and possibly uncover ways to control this highly prevalent and debilitating disease are suggested.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Can Infections Cause Alzheimer's Disease?
- Creators
- Francis Ellawanda - Univ Iowa, Dept Epidemiol, Coll Publ Hlth, Iowa City, IA 52242 USARobert Wallace - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Epidemiologic reviews, Vol.35(1), pp.161-180
- DOI
- 10.1093/epirev/mxs007
- PMID
- 23349428
- PMCID
- PMC4707877
- NLM abbreviation
- Epidemiol Rev
- ISSN
- 0193-936X
- eISSN
- 1478-6729
- Publisher
- Oxford Univ Press
- Number of pages
- 20
- Grant note
- NIA U1AG009740 / Health and Retirement Study U01AG009740 / NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/04/2013
- Academic Unit
- Epidemiology; Injury Prevention Research Center; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984364433502771
Metrics
13 Record Views