Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Link To H5N1 Bird Flu

it actually infects nerve cells and cells located in the brain

Evidence has emerged that there could be a link between suffering from the H5N1 bird flu virus and developing the brain diseases Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Clinical research done by a team at the St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis showed that the H5N1 bird flu virus was able to make its way to the brain and cause damage very similar to the damage that is caused by Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

The research which was done using lab mice was restricted to the very deadly H5N1 bird flu virus and there is no evidence that the H1N1 strain called swine flu would have the same effect. In fact the H5N1 bird flu virus is markedly different from most influenza viruses in that it actually infects nerve cells and cells located in the brain.  Swine flu however can in extreme cases be responsible for multiple organ failure.

This research highlights exactly how dangerous the H5N1 bird flu virus is and the damage it could do to human populations if it became as contagious as the more recent H1N1 swine influenza virus. The researchers explained that the brains of those mice that were infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus were damaged particularly in the area which produces the important chemical dopamine which is responsible for sending messages. This research was published in the respected medical journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Unlike the H1N1 swine influenza virus the H5N1 flu virus has only infected a few hundred individuals and therefore the full extent of the damage that it can do to the human brain and other parts of the body is still relatively unknown.

The World Health Organisation recommends that the best treatments for both of these viruses are the drugs Tamiflu made by the pharmaceutical company Roche and Relenza made by GlaxoSmithKline.