María Jesús Bullido Gómez-Heras
Head of the Pathogenic Mechanisms of Alzheimer's Disease research group and researcher at the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Centre
"This study reinforces previous studies on the association between herpes viruses and the risk of dementia and on the ability of anti-herpes treatments to reduce that risk. This study extends previous observations in Asian and European populations to an American population, suggesting that it will be true globally.
Although much research remains to be done to uncover the reasons and mechanisms that lead from infection to a dementia process that manifests many years later, the accumulation of evidence suggests that managing these infections, with treatments that are effective for all herpes viruses or with vaccines such as the shingles vaccine, is an interesting tool for reducing the risk or delaying dementia."
Is the study of good quality?
‘Yes, sufficient to support the claims they make.’
Does it fit with existing evidence?
‘Yes.’
Does it have any notable limitations?
‘It has some, which the authors discuss sufficiently in the discussion.’
What message would you like to convey to people who have cold sores periodically?
"They should be clear that having cold sores is by no means a “sentence” to developing dementia, but simply another risk factor (much less important than ageing itself). In fact, the vast majority of the adult population is infected with this virus. What recent studies, including this one, suggest is that if you have cold sores, using antiviral drugs during outbreaks may be a good idea."