A Common Virus May Play Role in Alzheimer’s Disease, Study Finds

It has long been a controversial theory about Alzheimer’s disease, often dismissed by experts as a sketchy cul-de-sac off the beaten path from mainstream research.

But a new study by a team that includes prominent Alzheimer’s scientists who were previously skeptics of this theory may well change that. The research offers compelling evidence for the idea that viruses might be involved in Alzheimer’s, particularly two types of herpes that infect most people as infants and then lie dormant for years.

The study, published Thursday in the journal Neuron, found that viruses interact with genes linked to Alzheimer’s and may play a role in how Alzheimer’s develops and progresses.