A new study co-lead by Prof Ruth Itzhaki has found that repeated head injuries could reawaken a dormant virus in the brain, triggering the onset of Alzheimer's Disease and dementia.
Professor Itzhaki has been researching the virus's potential role in Alzheimer's for more than 30 years. She said: 'What we've discovered is that in the brain model these injuries can reactivate a dormant virus, HSV-1, setting off inflammation which, in the brain, would lead to the very changes we see in Alzheimer's patients.'
► Read the full article: Concussions 'reactivate dormant virus in brain