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I was reading an article on neurodegenerative disorders and was alarmed because it was the first time I had heard about an infectious agent - prions - possibly causing the epidemic in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MSA, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob that countries such as the USA, Finland, and Iceland are experiencing. “There is now real evidence of the potential transmissibility of Alzheimer’s,” says Thomas Wiesniewski M.D. a prion and Alzheimer’s researcher at New York University School of Medicine. “In fact, this ability to transmit an abnormal conformation is probably a universal property of amyloid-forming proteins (prions).” (Source: "Alzheimer’s Disease Spreading Through Bodily Fluids" by Gary Chandler alzheimerdisease.tv) A statistic cited was that spouses of people with Alzheimer's are 600-percent more likely to also contract the disease. The primary methods of prion transmission are urine, feces, blood, mucous, and saliva. It made me think that there may be a connection between my deceased MIL's MSA and my FIL's cognitive downward spiral.

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NYDIL, Dr. Thomas Wiesniewski is familiar with autism families, too. He has some interesting theories, lots of lab research, and promising lines of testing that have yet to make it out of animal studies. I hope he has some opportunity of human testing, but it seems far away at this time. HOWEVER, I've also read that the statistic of 600% higher likelihood of spouses getting Alzheimer's is actually related to a higher diagnosis level - that you are looking for it knowing symptoms, not necessarily getting it from a spouse. He's working clinical studies with spider monkeys to check some of his findings, but he's been doing a lot of the Alz research actively since 2010. So far, it's all still in animal testing stages. We do know that some cases of CJ are transmissible by handling tissue. If prions are transmissible for autism purposes, we parents and siblings would all have it, too. The biggest factor that I've seen is that genetic weaknesses or flaws in DNA/RNA are damaged by prions and those flaws manifest in one of the most dramatic ways as protein deposits. If I hear more, I'll come back and post. The autism community is always looking for connections like these to explain why and possible cures or prevention. We're still looking....:(
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Sunny....one of the things I notice about my Mom is that she does everything right (except for the years of drinking wine and diet coke)
She stays at a steady weight
She exercises, walks, weights etc.
She makes great food choices (lots of veggies & salads and variety etc.)
She even does all the brain things like learning to be a flower show judge in her 60s (she had to study books and take tests etc.) Constantly challenging herself physically and mentally....and she still got Dementia.

Not that you shouldn't make all those choices for yourself, just saying, sometimes we do everything right and it is NOTHING we can control.

I think about that a lot. How much control do we really have?

My Mom's Dad had Parkinson's, she has Dementia, her brother has Alzheimer's...there is a good reason for me to suspect a genetic component exists. Now to think that maybe there is a transmissible form???

Anyway, my daughter did a research paper on a prion disease, so I asked her to see if she could find it, now I'm super curious.
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I have read about this before, but, I'm not aware of any concrete findings. Who knows where these amyloid seeds really come from. And why wouldn't healthcare workers and those who care for Alzheimers patients have high rates, since they handle a lot of bodily fluids caring for patients over the course of their career. I think there is a lot still to be learned.
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I am not familiar with the prion theory of dementia transmission. It really needs to be researched thoroughly, don't you think? It certainly fits the "epidemic" nature of the disease development now.

But dementia is not new. Why haven't cases in the past triggered epidemics?

I am familiar with the statistics that caregivers, especially spouses, have a higher rate of dementia than the general population. The prion theory would fit that. I also think that if you have one family member with dementia you are far more aware of symptoms and far more likely to seek treatment for another family member that starts to show symptoms.

I am happy to see all possibilities thoroughly explored.

There have been periods throughout history when diabetes looked like an epidemic, when certain populations have had very high rates of the disease. This has been a case of a population experiencing similar conditions, rather than the disease being transmitted from person to person.
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I could not find any reference to "A statistic cited was that spouses of people with Alzheimer's are 600-percent more likely to also contract the disease." Can you provide the source for that statistic?

CJD - most cases are sporadic and very few are acquired. The quote below is from a website run by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

"In acquired CJD, the disease is transmitted by exposure to brain or nervous system tissue, usually through certain medical procedures. There is no evidence that CJD is contagious through casual contact with a CJD patient. Since CJD was first described in 1920, fewer than 1 percent of cases have been acquired CJD."

This means it is not highly transmissible, as was claimed by the webpage (alzheimerdisease.tv/alzheimers-disease-risk-by-country) that said that spouses of people with Alzheimer's are 600-percent more likely to also contract the disease. No reference was given for this figure.

I think there is a lot of hyperbole in this article. The more legitimate sources with the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and stroke say that research is ongoing.
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NYD - Yes, I saw that, but he did not say where he got the figure from. There are other things in that article which are not accurate. I looked on the internet for a reference to the 600% and could not find it.

Guest - you made reference to the 600% Can you provide more information about it?
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I just thought about the Jewish tradition of not eating animal organs. Many of the things that were "unclean" were indeed known to lead to disease. Maybe what the Jewish people did was very wise. They may have noticed that eating certain things (pork if undercooked, liver if diseased, brain) made people ill.
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Me too. I'm always trying to explore new information about this and other issues. The problem is that I don't think we are supposed to post links, so, we can't see what the poster is referring to on some of these studies. Feel free to PM them to me though, if you see one of interest.
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I happened to be specifically interested in Vascular Dementia, since, that's what I have dealt with with my LO. I think that I overthink it though. I keep trying to figure out if I'm doing enough to protect myself. I've lost weight, started exercising, gotten my insulin levels in good control, blood pressure good, cholesterol excellent, eat right, etc. I see my doctor regularly and just got my blood work back and it's better than ever! I'm quite pleased, but, still....is it enough? Do we really have control over things like that?
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JJGood19, yes, that's disappointing, but, what can we do. The person that I know with Vascular Dementia, had long term hypertension and diabetes, that was not treated. Not sure about cholesterol, but, her diet was about as horrible as it gets. No real food for years. Only fried, processed, salty and sweet foods. No water, only sodas. So, I do what I can. Still, we can't predict the future. If I'm spared, I'll be grateful.

I know several people my age, who have parents with Alzheimers. They don't seem to worry about themselves that much, but, I wonder if they do in secret. I would think it would enter your mind. None of my ancestors had (have) dementia, that I am aware of, but, some of them died before they were past 80. Does that count? Does young onset Alzheimers run in families too?
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