“ there is incontrovertible evidence that alzheimer ’s disease has a dormant microbial component .
opposition to the microbial concepts resembles the fierce resistance we are researchers and clinicians working on alzheimer ’s disease ( ad ) or related topics , and we write to express our concern that one particular aspect of the disease has been neglected , even though treatment based on it might slow or arrest ad progression .
the worldwide team of 31 senior scientists and clinicians , which include specialists from oxford , cambridge , edinburgh and manchester universities and imperial college , have written an editorial which suggests that microbes are the major cause of dementia .
we ca n’t keep ignoring all of the evidence ” professor douglas kell , manchester university currently most scientists are trying to find treatments which prevent the build of sticky amyloid plaques and misfolded tau proteins in the brain which prevent neurons from communicating with each other , a worldwide team of senior scientists and clinicians have come together to produce an editorial which indicates that certain microbes - a specific virus and two specific types of bacteria - are major causes of alzheimer ’s disease .
the team ’s landmark editorial summarises the abundant data implicating these microbes , but until now this work has been largely ignored or dismissed as controversial - despite the absence of evidence to the contrary .
therefore , proposals for the funding of clinical trials have been refused , despite the fact that over 400 unsuccessful clinical trials for alzheimer 's based on other concepts were carried out over a recent 10 - year period .
alzheimer ’s disease could be caused by viruses like herpes , a group of renowned dementia experts have warned , as they call for urgent investigation into the link .
their paper , which has been published online in the highly regarded peer - reviewed journal , journal of alzheimer 's disease , stresses the urgent need for further research - and more importantly , for clinical trials of anti - microbial and related agents to treat the disease .
fungal infection of ad brain [ 5 , 6 ] has also been described , as well as abnormal microbiota in ad patient blood [ 7 ] .