Mystery Illness From Flu – How Pneumonia Is A Silent Ninja
Can your last flu lead you to…
After a tiring day at the office, Jenny was going back home. When it started to rain, she was drenched. The next day, she caught the flu, which soon turned into pneumonia. After proper treatment, she recovered.
Well, I’m sure you could have come across these situations a lot of times in your life. But what if the virus was still there in your body? The one that you thought was long gone. What if that tiny virus is waiting for a chance to pull the ultimate brain heist? If you think it’s some sci-fi story, then No, it’s not. It’s an unsettling reality of today.
A group of researchers at the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has proven a link between the common flu virus and the brain rotting Alzheimer’s disease. With the petrifying statistic, they have stated that people who underwent viral encephalitis treatment have 31 times more chance to develop Alzheimer’s disease than others.
The story does not end here. Studies have shown that when the common flu turns into pneumonia , it can lead to neurodegenerative diseases. You may think that this tiny virus will stay only for a few days. But do you know this time is enough for the brain to betray you? Yes, these invisible viruses cross the blood-brain barrier, creating wreaking havoc in the brain. It turns a harmless infection into a slow-motion death sentence for your neurons.
In 2023, the researchers discussed the vaccines currently available for some viruses.
Neurogeneticist Michael Nalls, at the National Institute on Aging in the US, after reading this study, realized that for years, scientists had been searching for links between an individual neurodegenerative disorder and a specific virus. That’s when he decided to have a different approach, more like a data science-based approach. With the help of medical records, he searched for all possible links in one shot systematically.
The researchers have used FinnGen’s time series data for the discovery and UK Biobank’s cross-sectional data for replication. With the help of these data sets, they were able to identify 45 viral exposures, which showed a remarkable association with a high risk of neurodegenerative disease. Other 22 of these associations were replicated.
They worked with six different types of neurodegenerative diseases. They analyzed more than 35,000 medical records and compared them against 310,000 medical records of people who did not have these diseases. Researchers understood the link between the virus and neurodegenerative diseases with the help of this analysis.
Researchers conducted a study in 2022 that revealed that people suffering from the Epstein-Barr virus have 32% more chances than others to suffer from multiple sclerosis. In some people, the risk of neurodegeneration was significantly high after 15 years of infection.
Andrew Singleton, the co-author of this study, is a Neurogeneticist and Alzheimer’s researcher. He believes that Neurodegenerative disorders are a collection of diseases for which there are very few effective treatments and many risk factors. The results support that viral infections and related inflammation in the nervous system may be expected and possibly avoidable risk factors for these disorders.
The twist in the story is that this analysis does not demonstrate the actual link but just gives us an idea of the link between them. With this study, it’s crystal clear that viruses are not just pesky intruders; they are potential time bombs waiting to turn your neurons to mush. The big brains behind this study say it’s not just washing hands or wearing a mask. Vaccines are available for some of these viruses. Vaccination can reduce the risk of neurodegenerative disease. These viruses, which we battle daily, are plotting a future attack on our brains.
Mystery Illness From Flu – How Pneumonia Is A Silent Ninja
