Dumb question (Wikipedia was of no help), if amyloid beta looks and acts like a prion, why isn't it classified as a prion?
The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
11–20 of 133 posts
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#12Just a clarifying point from the article: Transmissible != Communicable. Still, it makes me wonder what sort of other spooky “life forms” we can host.
(1) thanks for clarifying, that's a relief. (2) what does transmissible mean, then?
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#13Dumb question (Wikipedia was of no help), if amyloid beta looks and acts like a prion, why isn't it classified as a prion?
This is what the author was wondering at the end of the article. The discovery blurs the line between the two. There is now the question if they may be the same thing.
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#14Just a clarifying point from the article: Transmissible != Communicable. Still, it makes me wonder what sort of other spooky “life forms” we can host.
Not the same terms per se, but if you are one there is a massively greater chance that you might be the other too. This is an area where we should perhaps be wary.
If evidence of transmission between people comes forward, the sociological implications will mean decades of debate. Im not going to fault anyone for taking a keen interest in this area. They are opening a pandora's box.
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#15Just a clarifying point from the article: Transmissible != Communicable. Still, it makes me wonder what sort of other spooky “life forms” we can host.
(1) thanks for clarifying, that's a relief. (2) what does transmissible mean, then?
As far as I can tell, the two words mean the same thing. The other commenter may have meant to contrast with “contagious,” which means that it’s not just possible but reasonably easy to transmit the disease. From the article:
“It is important – imperative – to emphasize that transmissible does not equal contagious. There is absolutely no evidence that people with dementia can spread their disease casually to people around them. Even donated blood appears to be safe, as no association with blood transfusions and Alzheimer’s Disease has ever been detected.”
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#16Dumb question (Wikipedia was of no help), if amyloid beta looks and acts like a prion, why isn't it classified as a prion?
Article:
What is the difference between amyloid and prions? Are they part of a spectrum? Are they one in the same? If not, what is the difference? Can what we’ve learned about the biology of prions help our efforts to fight amyloid dementias?
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#17Just a clarifying point from the article: Transmissible != Communicable. Still, it makes me wonder what sort of other spooky “life forms” we can host.
The article mentions that explicitly though [0]
It also doesn’t mean it’s not communicable or contagious, it means we don’t know because it seems no one have looked yet [1]
[0] It is important – imperative – to emphasize that transmissible does not equal contagious. There is absolutely no evidence that people with dementia can spread their disease casually to people around them.
[1] Since Alzheimer’s Disease is so common, and we have not (to my knowledge) been looking for Alzheimer's caused by surgical or other medical procedures that access eye or neural tissue -- particularly in patients for whom the appearance of Alzheimer’s would not be surprising -- is it possible that we are underestimating the transmission potential of this disease, and that such events are less rare than we would guess?
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#18Does 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
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#19So better skip eye exams?
Re: The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows
#20Great. Another reason to regret my lasik.