New research suggests that people who suffer from a cold sore virus may be more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease later in life, BBC reports.
For the study, scientists at Manchester University infected cultures of human brain cells with the herpes simplex virus, HSV-1, the results were presented at the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence conference held in Cambridge, UK.
Researchers found a "dramatic" increase of beta amyloid protein — the building blocks of deposits or plaques, which form in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.
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Previous research discovered the HSV-1 in 70 percent of people with Alzheimer's.
A team from the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y. found that the virus was more likely to cause a problem in people who carry a mutant version of a specific gene called ApoE4, which is involved in the breakdown of fats by the body, BBC said.
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