Great. Another reason to regret my lasik.
What other reasons do you have?
The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
21–30 of 133 posts
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#22Dumb question (Wikipedia was of no help), if amyloid beta looks and acts like a prion, why isn't it classified as a prion?
It does seem like Abeta and prions should be in the same class.
A possible practical reason to keep them separated would be to avoid having various safety committees at X research institution from adding dozens of barriers to already difficult Alzheimer's research. Doing work with prions is a little like doing B. anthracis (Anthrax) research in some places - having to deal with indestructible spores.
Not that those safety measures shouldn't be put in place, but it'd make Alzheimer's/Abeta research slower and more expensive. The jump from BSL-1 to BSL2+/BSL-3 is huge [0].
[0] https://blink.ucsd.edu/safety/research-lab/biosafety/contain...
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#23Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#24Does this line of inquiry mesh at all with the idea that "Gum disease–causing bacteria could spur Alzheimer’s" Or are they competing hypotheses? reported here in January: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18987015
My wife‘s grandmother had all her teeth pulled and replaced with implants (probably a hint towards lifelong gum issues, and PERHAPS stirring/aggravating infections), and 2 years later developed aggressive Alzheimer’s, dying about 3 years later. She was only 64 when she died. To my knowledge, she never had any neuro or eye surgery. It’s just n=1 of course, but to me the gum disease hypothesis looks way more promising.
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#25So better skip eye exams?
What eye exam(s) involve physical contact between the eyeball and a medical instrument? Or did a joke just go sailing over my head?
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#26I'm starting to doubt the prion hypothesis now that we know amyloid-beta encapsulates viral particles in the brain. I think its more likely that viral infections are the transmitted agent.
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#27Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#28I think it's true that neurosurgeons have a higher rate of Alzheimer's than the population. This always bothered me.
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
What eye exam(s) involve physical contact between the eyeball and a medical instrument? Or did a joke just go sailing over my head?
Checking eye pressure involves an instrument touching the eye, and is pretty routine.
My guy uses a machine that does a puff of air. I've never had my eyeball physically touched by anything at an ophthalmologists office.
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#30If prions stick to surgical instruments “like glue” what about needles and lancets? Could this be the link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s?
Those are all one time use though, right?
Apparently lots of diabetics reuse lancets (thread on another HN story a day or two ago). But I can't imagine anyone sharing used lancets (or needles... except for desperate addicts).