Hypothesis: Bipolar disorder is an Epstein–Barr virus‐driven disease | Hacker News Reader

Hypothesis: Bipolar disorder is an Epstein–Barr virus‐driven disease

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

68 pointsadammichaelc27 comments

This study is from April, I wonder if there's been any substantial progress on whether this hypothesis is true?

Maybe someone in the field can pitch in, but I also saw this sentence in the article: "I have previously hypothesised that all human chronic autoimmune diseases are caused by Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection of autoreactive B cells,"

So it seems he's been hovering around the EBV hypothesis for longer than that so I am also curious if there was any real progress and whether this is something the medical research community is treating seriously.

EBV has been linked to several autoimmune illnesses in recent years, so yes it’s treated seriously by those who have stayed abreast of that research. (It’s also been linked to certain cancers previously.) But as for whether it causes all human autoimmune illnesses, that seems a bit of a stretch. I don’t think you’d find many believing that. (Lots of infections can cause autoimmunity. The neurological damage / and long term post infection chronic fatigue that some COVID patients are suffering for example may likely be autoimmune related.)

"I have previously hypothesised that all human chronic autoimmune diseases are caused by Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)"

Obvious red flag is obvious, because once you start looking for something in particular you do start finding it everywhere you look.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

This is why we developed the scientific method, to act as a filter for such human follies. That the author is still hypothesizing instead of rolling up his sleeves and doing the actual work to DISprove his own ideas speaks volumes.

Or, to put it another way: it is not sufficient merely to gird oneself in the mantle of Marshall and Warren; one must also swallow the H Pylori and serve their hard time on the shitter.

Well, they are developing a vaccine, and any new findings about diseases linked to EBV would raise the value of the vaccine. I think it's safe to say that the medical community is indeed very interested in this.

It’s not a study. It’s an opinion piece. And though IANAS, even I appreciate that publishing your ideas before you’ve even attempted to test them yourself is barely one step up from YouTube videos on the scale of Why Should Anyone Else Care.

https://thelogicofscience.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/hierar...

"Epstein-Barr virus, or EBV, is one of the most common human viruses in the world. It spreads primarily through saliva. EBV can cause infectious mononucleosis, also called mono, and other illnesses. Most people will get infected with EBV in their lifetime and will not have any symptoms. Mono caused by EBV is most common among teens and adults."

https://www.cdc.gov/epstein-barr/index.html

While true, what this misses that is discussed in the paper is that some people’s immune systems aren’t able to fight EBV effectively.

Their bodies show high levels of antibodies, indicating an active fight, whereas most people will only have antibodies showing a previous fight.

In bipolar and schizophrenia, the blood seems to indicate an active fight, and a higher antibody count, versus in a neurotypical person.

Diets optimized for managing autoimmune disorders -- e.g. Wahl's -- are effective with BD, too.

Is this through first-hand experience? I am tempted to give this a go.

Yes.

Ketogenic diets are often used for autoimmune disorders and are known effective for BD, too.

Can you cite a source on the latter claim?

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30075165/

This implies that the genetic link is somewhat of a coincidence, the family members just happen to have all caught the same virus? Is that the right interpretation? Because BD does seem to come in waves in families.

Perhaps it's both? Some people/families are more genetically predisposed, but it takes the virus to actually trigger BPD?

I doubt it. Is it common that everyone eventually catches that virus?

It’s not just that they caught the virus, but that their immune systems are unable to defeat the virus. So, the battle remains active for life, and becomes a chronic infection.

Presumably, this would suggest that the genetic component is the susceptibility to the virus, and inability to defeat it.

Seems unlikely that virus is so prevalent to infect multiple family members that do not cohabitate but nonetheless show genetic link for BD.

Wow, if this is true, could provide amazing new insights on many brain related ailments.

Can someone give a layman's explanation?

I'm a layman but I read the paper. The paper's main points are that people with bipolar show a specific lack of some chemicals that Epstein-Barr Virus infections can cause, it argues that this theory would explain lithium being paradoxically good at treating BD (for some technical reasons it gets into), and further there's ample evidence that mood disorders and autoimmune disorders have a high comorbdity, with the author suggesting that the two are more deeply related.

Woah. So i should treat autoimmune to improve my mood? Like specific diet?

Extremely unspecific advice:

If you use too much toilet paper all the time then something is wrong with your diet and you should try figuring out what the cause is. Once your diet has improved you won't need more than one wipe.

I doubt this will help with bipolar disorder specifically though. This is mostly helpful for people who don't get enough fiber.

... but I love Taco Bell so much it hurts.

A mono vaccine is in development, so the more health problems that can be linked to mono, the better it will be for the vaccine sales.

Woah

Epstein didn't kill himself.

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