1. This is not a "stupid virus," per se
The "stupid
virus" title is meant to be a humorous, eye catching marketing
hook for bored journalists.
It's actually an unwittingly cruel
joke. In the
original study (Chlorovirus
ATCV-1 is part of the Human Oropharyngeal Virome and is
associated with Changes in Cognitive Functions in Humans
and Mice), the researchers refer to cognitive decline
and memory problems due to the virus.
The researchers who had
swabbed healthy people wrote that they found a,
"modest but
statistically significant decrease in the performance on
cognitive assessments of visual processing and visual motor
speed."
As well as changes of gene expression in the
hippocampus, memory formation and immune response. They also
said it affects behavior.
However,
-
Do you know how many things lead to cognitive issues?
-
Do we call Alzheimer's "Stupid Dementia"?
-
Do we say an epileptic
is acting "dumb again" when they go into seizures, thought to
stem from the hippocampus?
No.
But if cognitive decline equates
stupidity then I vote to call
BPA a "stupidity
chemical":
Because all of those things directly affect
the brain.
But
cognitive problems are not indicative of stupidity, so it's a
cruel misnomer to detract and minimize them by calling a
damaging virus a stupid maker.
2. It could have been called the ADHD virus
If this
virus can mimic symptoms that are often left to the mental
health field then shouldn't people with Alzheimer's and ADHD be
properly tested to make sure a virus isn't actually causing
their symptoms? Or even epilepsy, schizophrenia and PTSD.
The
fact that it affects the hippocampus is a concern. Forget
stupid, do you want to have early onset Alzheimer's and not be
able to create new memories? And it would be cruel to call
someone with that serious brain issue "stupid."
The more I read up on this, the more it sounds like the exact
picture of the group of symptoms commonly
called ADHD.
From the
Daily Mail:
Tests showed the virus had broken through the barrier
between blood and tissue, altering the activity of genes in
the brains of the mice.
The genes affected including those producing dopamine
- a vital hormone which influences memory, spatial
awareness, emotion and pleasure.
ADHD
with a forecast of Alzheimer's...
3. Another more accurate headline would actually be
freaking out about yet another kingdom-jumping disease
This
time involving plants-to-humans. That really isn't normal.
The
people who tell me this are parroting the articles that are
sensitizing people to get used to it. Historically speaking, I
don't see the rampant cases of kingdom or even species jumps
that have exploded in the last 50-100 years.
Let's be clear:
this virus comes from algae and hadn't been observed in healthy
humans before. When it was, they didn't think it was harmful.
But they conclude:
"Our study indicates that viruses in the
environment not thought to infect humans can have biological
effects."
It seems like I read about these "isolated incidents" once a
week now.
Furthermore, researchers say they don't KNOW how the
jump happens - or if it's contagious or if we make good hosts.
That's a problem and deserves more than a stupid, passing
headline.
The human body houses many viruses, no less, DNA viruses. I just
wanted to point that out to alleviate potential panic. This
isn't necessarily "bad" it just is what it is for now, although
I would love to see how people could live if they did not have
the bulk of them.
Most people have had Chicken Pox (varicella
zoster) and it stays latent. Later, one could have Shingles
(herpes zoster) during a time of immune suppression or stress.
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (cold sores of the mouth) are
present in 80-90% of people and appear during times of stress.
The above also happen to be DNA viruses. This list goes on and
on...
