Alzheimer Mainstream

Two things amazed me when I read the article by Christine Bahls on Alzheimer research.1 Certainly the huge amount of funding [was one]. Also the fact that, as far as I could see, no research appears to be directed toward identifying whether any infective processes are involved. I am not the only one who believes that many of the diseases we have termed idiopathic, meaning the cause of the disease had not been elucidated, are indeed of infective origin. In the last few years many diseases branded

Written byEdward Mcneil
| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

I am not the only one who believes that many of the diseases we have termed idiopathic, meaning the cause of the disease had not been elucidated, are indeed of infective origin. In the last few years many diseases branded as idiopathic have turned out to be of an infective origin, the best known being peptic ulceration. Cases of multiple sclerosis (MS), fibromyalgia (FM), and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are increasing in prevalence, and the increase cannot be attributed to an aging population; the age at which the diseases are being diagnosed has diminished. With the possibility that infective agents are responsible, it is prudent to ask which infectious diseases are becoming more prevalent and could they be related to the increase in one or more of the idiopathic diseases. Tick-borne diseases are second only to HIV infections in the United States as regards increasing numbers, and they are increasing ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Published In

Share
Image of a woman with her hands across her stomach. She has a look of discomfort on her face. There is a blown up image of her stomach next to her and it has colorful butterflies and gut bacteria all swarming within the gut.
November 2025, Issue 1

Why Do We Feel Butterflies in the Stomach?

These fluttering sensations are the brain’s reaction to certain emotions, which can be amplified or soothed by the gut’s own “bugs".

View this Issue
Olga Anczukow and Ryan Englander discuss how transcriptome splicing affects immune system function in lung cancer.

Long-Read RNA Sequencing Reveals a Regulatory Role for Splicing in Immunotherapy Responses

Pacific Biosciences logo
Research Roundtable: The Evolving World of Spatial Biology

Research Roundtable: The Evolving World of Spatial Biology

Conceptual cartoon image of gene editing technology

Exploring the State of the Art in Gene Editing Techniques

Bio-Rad
Conceptual image of a doctor holding a brain puzzle, representing Alzheimer's disease diagnosis.

Simplifying Early Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis with Blood Testing

fujirebio logo

Products

Eppendorf Logo

Research on rewiring neural circuit in fruit flies wins 2025 Eppendorf & Science Prize

Evident Logo

EVIDENT's New FLUOVIEW FV5000 Redefines the Boundaries of Confocal and Multiphoton Imaging

Evident Logo

EVIDENT Launches Sixth Annual Image of the Year Contest

10x Genomics Logo

10x Genomics Launches the Next Generation of Chromium Flex to Empower Scientists to Massively Scale Single Cell Research