The Infectious Etiology of Chronic Diseases Defining the Relationship, Enhancing the Research, and Mitigating the Effects: Workshop Summary (2004) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Summary and Assessment
Summary and Assessment
Pages 1-12
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 1... ...
A number of chronic diseases have now been linked, in some cases definitively, to an infectious etiology: peptic ulcer disease with Helicobacter pylori, cervical cancer with several human papillomaviruses, Whipple's disease with Tropheryma whipplei, Lyme arthritis and neuroborreliosis with Borrelia burgdorferi, AIDS with the human immunodeficiency virus, liver cancer and cirrhosis with hepatitis B and C viruses, to name a few. Indeed, evidence continues to mount implicating microorganisms as etiologic agents of chronic diseases that have substantial morbidity and mortality, including atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and a variety of neurological diseases.
|
From page 2... ...
Emerging infectious diseases are conceptualized either as newly identified or appreciated infectious illnesses and conditions, or as previously recognized syndromes that are newly attributed to infection. Some scientists now believe that a substantial portion of chronic diseases may be causally linked to infectious agents.
|
From page 3... ...
Various viruses Multiple sclerosis 1 Enteroviruses Type I diabetes mellitus 1 Toxoplasma gondii Schizophrenia 1 Herpes Simplex virus Type 2 Schizophrenia 1 Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma 1 Propionibacterium acnes · Chronic inflammatory acne · Other chronic diseases 1 Cryptosporidiosis and intestinal Disability consequences including growth 2 helminthic infections shortfalls, fitness and cognitive impairment Helminthic infections Epilepsy 2 Plasmodium falciparum Epilepsy 2 Treponema pallidum Congenital syphilis 2 Toxoplasma gondii Congenital toxoplasmosis 2 Maternal rubella virus Congenital rubella 2 Perinatal HIV Developmental disabilities 2 Perinatal herpes viruses Neurodevelopmental disabilities 2 Plasmodium falciparum · Cognitive development · Childhood anemia 2 Haemophilus influenzae Nervous system impairment 2 Type B meningitis Japanese encephalitis virus Neuropsychiatric sequelae 2 Measles virus Developmental disabilities 2 Poliovirus Paralysis Chlamydia trachomatis Trachoma Human T-cell lymphotropic · Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 virus Type 1 · Autoimmune disorders · Infections associated with immunosuppression Human herpes virus Type 8 Kaposi's sarcoma 3 Borna disease virus Neurodevelopmental disorders 3 Hepatitis C virus and Schistosoma mansoni interaction 2 HIV and Plasmodium falciparum interaction 2
|
From page 4... ...
surveys a number of pathogens proposed to contribute to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Chlamydia pneumoniae, cytomegalovirus, and herpes simplex virus are among the suggested bacterial and viral pathogens, with the greatest body of evidence surrounding C
|
From page 5... ...
triggers MS or whether elevated markers of infection are secondary to the underlying inflammatory processes of the disease. Such findings emphasize the complexity of directly attributing chronic disease to one or more specific infectious agents.
|
From page 6... ...
Not only will changing economics, demographic shifts with lower childhood mortality, and changing lifestyles drive this trend, but migration from rural to urban areas and into previously uninhabited ecosystems may expose populations to new infectious agents that underlie chronic disease. Both newly identified and well-recognized infectious etiologies of chronic disease, including infections known to enter a chronic state, such as tuberculosis and malaria, will acquire increasing importance to domestic and global health.
|
From page 7... ...
Other new tools being employed include broad-range polymerase chain reaction and representational difference analysis, both of which have played key roles in linking numerous pathogens with chronic diseases. Equipped with these and other advanced tools, researchers are becoming better able to move beyond the limitations of Koch's postulates and to link infectious agents with chronic diseases more precisely and with greater confidence than ever before.
|
From page 8... ...
Additional observations can be made by conducting follow-up and look-back studies using infectious disease and chronic disease surveillance systems and by following outbreak cohorts or recently infected individuals. Longitudinal studies may prove particularly valuable given that rapid advances in the field may dictate that we might not know today which pieces of evidence will be needed in the future.
|
From page 9... ...
Issues related to informed consent and human specimen collections and repositories take on new dimensions given these demands. The potential for developing new and improved diagnostic and analytical technologies that identify new targets for chronic disease prevention strategies is very real.
|
From page 10... ...
With this scientifically sound information, new strategies can target the critical point along the path from infection to chronic disease at which interventions might avoid or mitigate illness and disability. Linking one or more highly prevalent chronic conditions to infection with a specific virus or bacteria might enable physicians to use vaccines and/or antibiotics to prevent or cure the condition, thus eliminating the need for health workers to rely on nonspecific therapies aimed at mitigating the symptoms of the condition.
|
From page 11... ...
However, the identification and confirmation of infectious causes of chronic diseases is complicated by several problems, including frequent multifactor causation for many of these diseases and differences in the environmental background and genetic composition of different populations. Recently developed molecular and immunological techniques offer new approaches to addressing the technical barriers.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.