Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of more than 80 recognized autoimmune disorders, and the site of the symptoms (joints, skin, organs) determines the specific disorder. As researchers continue to make progress in understanding Alzheimer’s disease, it appears that Alzheimer’s disease may be another example of an autoimmune disease in which brain inflammation plays a causative role.

Development of Inflammation of the brain is similar to the inflammatory processes that take place in the rest of the body. Microglia in the dedicated immune system of the central nervous system are activated when they perceive a threat, and are dispatched in response to promote healing. However, when microglia are constantly responding to perceived threats, the immune system is overactivated and this can lead to damage of healthy brain cells and acceleration of the Alzheimer’s disease process. Microglia activation has a negative effect on normal cognitive function.

Chronic inflammation of the body’s peripheral systems may also lead to brain inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease. Long term gum disease, for instance, has been linked to increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. 

Vaccine researchers have described a number of biological mechanisms whereby vaccines can cause brain inflammation. The Merck Manual states that encephalitis (brain inflammation) can develop after “A virus or vaccine triggers a reaction that makes the immune system attack brain tissue (an autoimmune reaction).” Vaccine ingredients like aluminum adjuvants, which are neurotoxic, have been implicated in vaccine-associated brain dysfunction. Commenting on the ability of vaccines to cause chronic brain inflammation, Russell Blaylock, MD said, “Overstimulation of the systemic immune system, as by repeated inoculations spaced close together, can result in chronic activation of brain microglia, the nervous system’s immune mechanism.”