EAN: 9781461290070

VIRUSES IMMUNITY AND MENTAL DISORDERS - EDOUARD...

In spite of progress in biomedical research  we know little about the causes  prevention  and
treatment of the numerous mental and neurological disorders that afflict up to 15% of all
individuals. In the last decade  great advances have been made in the physiopathology of mental
and neurological disorders  leading to at least a partial control of Parkinson's disease 
epilepsy  certain psychoses  and anxiety syndromes. Despite the fact that an underlying
specific neurotransmitter deficiency has been demonstrated in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
diseases  the immune dysfunction and viral hypotheses continue to be attractive for
investigators dealing with these degenerative diseases of the aging brain  which afflict 10% of
senior citizens. A retrospective epidemiologic study suggests that the encephalitis lethargica
and parkinsonism were almost certainly caused by the 1918 influenza virus pandemics. It must be
stressed that the etiopathogenesis of many mental disorders is not known  and this ignorance
has led to several untenable neurophysiological and biochemical hypotheses. Epidemiologic
investigations show a high prevalence of functional psychoses and organic mental disorders.
Although many of them are conceptualized as biopsychosocial disorders  recent data indicate
that the biological component appears more and more as a major etiologic factor. Among the
various biological hypotheses  the viral and im munologic concept has become a significant one.
In view of recent discoveries in virology and immunity  it becomes clear that viral and
immunologic hypotheses should be inves tigated more systematically concerning the mechanisms of
numerous mental and neu rological disorders.

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