Infections may be associated with cognitive problems.

The Los Angeles Times (3/26, Healy, 692K) "Booster Shots" blog reports, "Scientists have long suspected that infections wreak havoc not just on the body but on the mind as well, and it doesn't seem to matter whether the infections are viral or bacterial, or what part of the body they affect. Having a medical history that includes more than the usual infections puts a patient at higher risk of stroke and vascular disease." In turn, "poorer vascular health has been linked to Alzheimer's disease and other dementia risk."

        The Huffington Post (3/26) reports that a study published March 26 in the journal Neurology "shows an association between having higher infection levels in the blood and risk of cognitive problems."

        Forbes (3/25, DiSalvo, 928K) reports, "Researchers tested thinking and memory in 1,625 people with an average age of 69 from northern Manhattan in New York. Participants gave blood samples that were tested for five common low grade infections: three viruses (herpes simplex type 1 (oral) and type 2 (genital), and cytomegalovirus), chlamydia pneumoniae (a common respiratory infection) and Helicobacter pylori (a bacteria found in the stomach)." The study found that "the people who had higher levels of infection had a 25 percent increase in the risk of a low score on a common test of cognition called the Mini-Mental State Examination."

        The NBC News (3/26, James) "Vitals" blog reports that study author Dr. Mira Katan, of Columbia University in New York City, said, "While this association needs to be further studied, the results could lead to ways to identify people at risk of cognitive impairment and eventually lower that risk." Katan also "said she found the link between infections and memory loss was greater among women, people with lower levels of education and most prominently, in people who do not exercise."

        HealthDay (3/26, Norton) reports, "Katan said that infection with the viruses, rather than the two bacteria, seemed to play a greater role in mental decline. Overall, 23 percent of the study participants had signs of mental impairment at the study's start; the odds of impairment were 2.5 times higher among people who carried all three viruses - HSV 1 and 2, and cytomegalovirus - than for people who carried only one virus."

        MedPage Today (3/26, Gever) reports that "an accompanying editorial...suggested that the associations were strong enough to warrant a clinical trial of an antiviral drug. Timo Strandberg, MD, PhD, of the University of Helsinki in Finland, and Allison Aiello, PhD, MS, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, noted that similar associations had been found between viral exposure and schizophrenia, and a course of valacyclovir (Valtrex) had shown 'a favorable effect.'" The editorialists "acknowledged that such a study in older patients with preexisting cognitive impairment would be more challenging and could fail entirely, since 'comorbid factors in older patients or the advanced nature of the dementia might overwhelm any effect of the intervention,' they wrote."