Letters to the Editor

22 September 2017

Dietary factors for prevention of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia: what is optimal?

Solfrizzi et al. [1] recently published a systematic review of observational studies published between 2014 to 2016 on dietary factors and late-life cognitive disorders. While the authors relayed the growing promise and potential of diet to change the course of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, their conclusion—that certain foods that have been thought to increase health risk are not as damaging as previously described—is not consistent with the emerging unifying concepts on protective dietary factors for Alzheimer’s disease [2-4].

28 September 2016

The Cognitive Basis for Florence Foster Jenkins' “Tone Deafness"

The brilliant film portrayal by Meryl Streep of the tone-deaf diva Florence Foster Jenkins is amplified in the historian Darryl W. Bullock's fine new book, Florence ! Foster !! Jenkins !!! the Life of the World's Worst Opera Singer (Overlook Press, New York, 2016). I offer here a scientific postulation for this striking example of "dysmusia " (or tune-deafness), of which she was quite likely cognitively unaware.

25 September 2016

The Pathway to Alzheimer’s Disease from Spirochetes to Amyloid-β

Recently, Miklossy has shown Borrelia cultured from brains of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) not only grew organisms, but those organisms made biofilms, amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP), and amyloid-β (Aβ) in vitro as well [1]. With that observation, the major events in the pathogenesis of this dreaded disease have been made much clearer. They (major events) originate in most cases of the disease with spirochetes; Aβ, which is a constant in the disease, assumes a lesser role.

4 August 2016

Is It Really Safe Living Alone with Dementia?

We read with interest the article by Eichler et al. [1] that indicates that a high proportion of community-dwelling people with dementia live alone. The authors concluded that people with dementia living alone did not seem to be at an increased health risk, even if they lacked the support of an informal caregiver. We would like to comment on safety issues about living alone with dementia.

7 June 2016

Epidemiological trends may help clarify the role of infection in etiology of Alzheimer’s disease

The editorial paper by Itzhaki et al. [1] addresses critically important questions about the role of infection in etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We believe that in addition to the evidence of infectious nature of AD that have been described in the paper, one more type of the evidence must be taken into account and routinely included in consideration of AD mechanisms.

26 December 2015

Inhalable curcumin is a potential treatment for herpes simplex virus type 1-associated Alzheimer’s disease

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) DNA is frequently detected in the aged brains of both normal individuals and patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) [1]. In recent studies, the reactivation of HSV-1 in the brain is a potent risk factor for the development of AD [1]. Reactivated HSV-1 can cause an increased formation and accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) and abnormally phosphorylated tau. Moreover, HSV-1-mediated disruption of autophagy in neurons may also contribute to the accumulation of these abnormal proteins [2].

21 September 2015

Further verification of the lack of correlation between Lyme disease and deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease

In 2014, O’Day and Catalano published a JAD article presenting statistical evidence that Lyme disease was not a cause of Alzheimer’s disease [1]. A recent report by Phillip J. Baker, Ph.D., who is the Executive Director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation, has validated this conclusion using different statistical methodology and more recent data [2]. To quote Dr. Baker, “An analysis of the data by linear regression analysis generates a correlation coefficient of 0.0753 (t= 0.262 for 12 degrees of freedom; p >0.05.

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