Can the Flu Cause Parkinsonism, Neurodegeneration?
Source: Alzheimer Research Forum Chances are, when asked to list possible causes for Parkinson and Alzheimer diseases, many scientists would not think to include flu virus. Yet a study in this week’s PNAS Early Edition lifts the so-called “pathogen hypothesis” off the backburner. Led by Richard Smeyne, researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, report that a deadly bird flu virus can reach the central nervous system of infected mice, triggering neuro-inflammation and Parkinson’s like pathology. “I think it was a well-done study, and I think the data does suggest that this type of influenza virus can cause the damage we would see with Parkinson’s,” said Brian Balin, who studies diseases of aging at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Pennsylvania. “It fits with what a lot of people have been doing, or suggestion over the years – that infection can cause a neurodegeneratvie process.” Three years ago, when people feared the H5N1 bird flu viru
