In a study released in early 2005 researchers found that close to 98% of the general population has been exposed to and is shedding the HSV-1 virus, or the herpes virus that is commonly thought to cause mouth sores.

Herpes is a sexually transmitted disease but the spread of HSV-1, commonly found above the waist, is highly contagious and easily transmitted through casual contact – such as that big kiss that Aunt Jane planted on your lips at the last family picnic.

In the study in 2005 the researchers found that the virus was shed when people didn’t have an active infection and spread through the tears, saliva or blood.  While this wasn’t the first study of it’s kind the researchers reported that it did use the most sensitive techniques to test for the presence of HSV-1.

Doctors know that HSV-1, and to a lesser extent HSV-2, is responsible for virus-induced blindness in Western cultures with approximately 500,000 suffering from herpetic eye disease in the US alone.

In another study released in late 2003 and reported by Science Daily researchers from Brown University found a physical connection between the herpes simplex virus and the precursor protein that forms a major component of plaques consistent with people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientists cautioned that there wasn’t enough evidence to draw conclusions from the results but do believe that there may be a common link between the common HSV-1 virus with the neurodegenerative disorder of Alzheimer’s.

In another study by British scientist Dr. Ruth Itzhaki a link between HSV-1 and sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (Alzheimer’s that doesn’t run in families) was found.  Researchers found that the HSV-1 virus was prevalent in the brains of older people whether they showed symptoms or not.

An infection doesn’t mean that each person will be ‘affected’.  This means that although a high percentage of people had HSV-1 in their brains not all suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.  Instead researchers searched for another link or common denominator and found that the genetic variant APOE4 could be linked to those suffering from Alzheimer’s.

The APOE4 variant had already been identified as an increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s but it isn’t necessary or sufficient to cause the disease on it’s own.  It was already known that the APOE could determine the effect of a virus when studies found that the risk of cold sores from HSV-1 is higher in people with the APOE4 mutation.

There are close to 100 types of the herpes virus that cause genital herpes, oral herpes, shingles, chickenpox and cytomegalovirus to name a few illnesses.  During their research the scientists found that other herpes viruses weren’t as prevalent in people with vascular dementia.  HSV-6 was found in the brains of those suffering from Alzheimer’s but it wasn’t clear if it was a cause or consequence of the disease.

More research is needed to untangle this information but because pharmaceutical companies don’t find this to be financially lucrative and there is some hostility toward the idea the funding is sadly lacking.

In another study results released in early 2007 showed that drugs used to help herpes infections may also help to slow the progression of HIV.  Many people with HIV are also infected with HSV-2 or genital herpes.

In a recent study conducted in Africa and published in the New England Journal of Medicine women who were treated with valacyclovir for herpes had less HIV in their blood and in their genital secretions, which may also decrease the spread of the HIV infection.

Other studies at the University of Washington that are currently under way are looking at the tolerability and immune response of people with HSV-2 to AG-707; evaluating the suppressive effect of Acyclovir vs. Valacyclovir in HSV-2; the effect of dosing suppressive therapy for HSV-2 in patients with HIV and the resolution of HSV-2 after beginning Acyclovir.

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