# 3611
While I was composing my last blog, Helen Branswell’s latest report was being posted on the news wires.
In it she goes into much greater depth on the possible Encephalitis Lethargica link with influenza that I mention, along with bringing us comments by Jeffrey Taubenberger, a world renown influenza researcher at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
I’ll do the smart thing here, and simply get out of the way. Follow the link to read the article in its entirety.
Some flu viruses may set up sufferers to get Parkinson's later in life: study
By Helen Branswell Medical Reporter (CP) –
TORONTO — Infection with some kinds of influenza viruses may set up people to be at higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease later in life, a new American study suggests.
The work, inspired by the story behind the 1990 movie "Awakenings," suggests some aggressive strains of flu that can pass into the brain may deplete dopamine-creating neurons, leaving a person more vulnerable to developing the neurodegenerative disease at a later date.
"I am very confident (that) ... viruses will be considered a player in the etiology of PD (Parkinson's disease)," said senior author Dr. Richard Smeyne, a neurologist and neuroscientist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
"Not a direct cause, but maybe the initiating cause... It sets you up."
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