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Comment by zebrafish | Hacker News Reader

How does the brain become inflamed in the first place? Couldn't find that in their write-up.

Diet. And probably something to do with gut bacteria, which just ties back into diet.

There's also reportedly a connection with bad teeth.

Yes, and this is obvious when you think about it. Sugar causes both inflammation (actually any carbohydrate will eventually) and sugar is why you brush your teeth.

Fascinating books on this include "pure, white and deadly" and "cancer: disease of civilization" (this one is hard to find, written in 1962 I think). The former was written before sugar fully took over, the latter was written back when some cultures didn't get cancer.

Not surprising if true. It seems swallowing the bacteria that flourish when you don't brush/floss your teeth leads to damage to your heart valves (wild!) so other immune responses, typically leading to inflammation, are quite likely.

I always figured they entered your bloodstream through your gums.

I am not aware that the oral mucosa are particularly permeable in this regard.

It bleeds when you floss so it seems like it’s pretty open. But I’m not positive.

"minor insults to the brain – perhaps a virus or mild injury"

Thanks! I was just skimming. I wonder if the anti-inflammatory properties of coffee are enough to help ward off AD. Not sure if the phenols interact with the proteins they discuss here.

A huge number of studies have consistently shown a strong protective effect of moderate to high coffee consumption against AD and Parkinson's

Fine as long as you can remember to turn on the espresso machine...

One alternative theory is borreliosis (Lyme disease).

Any evidence of this?

In the United States, Lyme disease is mostly confined to the north east.

https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/images/maps/2015-dot-map-title.jpg

But Alzheimer's is not confined to the north east. It's not even more prevalent there.

http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/arts/culture...

There are claims by an american pathologist, Dr. Alan MacDonald. You can find his research and videos online.

And it should be non existent in other places like Australia if true.

Lyme Disease has been known to mimic the symptoms of so many diseases that in medicine it has the distinction of being known as "The Great Imitator".

Also, tests for it are not completely reliable, some people have it and go undiagnosed or are misdiagnosed for many years, and there are all sorts of anti-medical-establishment conspiracy theories surrounding it. As a result some people think that symptoms or diagnosis of just about anything could really be caused by Lyme Disease.

If true, what can people who already have Lyme disease do to prevent Alzheimer’s?

Not enough sleep.

Dementia is a multifaceted disease, of which sleep plays a big part in the exhaustion of waste products. Inflammation also prevents the exhaustion of waste products.

There's been articles posted on HN about how sleep reduces inflammation.

It's also scary to me because there was a sleep disruption leads to dementia/Alzheimer's piece this week, and I only had five hours last night. Guess I'll have to hope Dr. Bredesen will be able to help, or the electrodes that restore sleep patterns.

You can try melatonin and magnesium.

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