Does Herpes Cause Dementia?
Does herpes cause dementia? This week, I posted an update on the latest research regarding this topic. The findings indicate that herpes is linked to dementia, but let’s talk more about the research and what it really means.
This study by Vestina et al. was published by the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and found that herpes simplex doubles the risk for dementia (note: “doubles the risk” doesn’t automatically mean that people with herpes will get dementia).
The goal of the study was to investigate the roles of the herpes simplex virus (HSV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) - a member of the herpes virus family - in Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia risk among same-age individuals over a period of time. (Vestina et al., 2024).
In an article by @sciencealert, one of the researchers, Erika Vestin, noted that, “More and more evidence is emerging from studies, like our findings, point to the herpes simplex virus as a risk factor for dementia.” Vestin continued, noting that this study is special because “participants are roughly the same age, which makes the results even more reliable since age differences, which are otherwise linked to the development of dementia, cannot confuse the results.”
The slides in this post give a basic overview of the study goals, participants, methods, and findings. I’ve also included the most asked answers to your questions around funding sources (FWIW, I don’t have concerns here), additional herpes virus family members, and causation.
TLDR; This study adds to existing research in finding that herpes is a risk factor for dementia, not a guarantee that someone with herpes will automatically get dementia as they age. Additional studies need to be conducted to investigate the impact of herpes antivirals.