Neuroscientist suggests a visit to your dentist could help identify a new sign of Alzheimer's
Many chronic conditions related to old age develop over quite a long time. Also, they show certain unusual signs that might help a medical professional detect them early on. A new study suggests that a person's dentist might be able to identify an early sign of Alzheimer's. The research found out that a certain kind of bacteria in a person's mouth could play a huge role in their risk of developing Alzheimer's later in life, per a report by Prevention. The microbiome in a mouth could say a lot about someone's brain health and function.
The study, published by PNAS Nexus, looked at the brain health of 110 adults above the age of 50 in the United Kingdom with the help of an online study. This group was divided into two sub-groups. One set of people had no noticeable decline in mental health functions, while others had certain thinking and memory-related problems. The second group is more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease later in life. All the participants were provided a mouth rinse sample for scientists to understand and analyze their oral microbiome. Eventually, the researchers were able to conclude that certain bacteria were associated with better memory function while others were associated with a higher risk of memory problems.
People with a significant amount of bacteria Neisseria and Haemophilus had better memory function compared to others in the group. People with the bacteria Porphyromonas, a key bacteria related to periodontitis (a gum-related problem), were more likely to have memory problems. Another bacteria, Prevotella, was found in people with the gene APOE4, which has been previously linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease. The reason behind the same is that the presence of high levels of bad bacteria can cause a rise in bodily inflammation and in turn, increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Harmful bacteria cause issues in two ways, per the study.
In one way, such bacteria could enter a person's bloodstream and cause brain damage. In another way, the mouth microbiome can impact how much nitric oxide is formed from the nitrate (a compound available in vegetables). Nitric oxide is an essential substance for good brain function. Bacteria that cause lower formation of nitric oxide can cause memory problems in a person. However, Mark S. Wolff, DDS, PhD, dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, pointed out that it's hard to make such a conclusion. "We need to be careful not to assert a cause and effect when both of these things may just be happening at the same time," he said.
"People can have bad gum disease and lots of bacteria and develop Alzheimer's disease. Did one cause the other or did they just both occur because we weren't taking good care of our mouth while we were developing Alzheimer's disease?" he further added. At the same time, fortunately, a person can take some steps to ensure that there's a proper amount of good bacteria in their mouth. Jennifer Bramen, PhD, a senior research scientist and director of neuroimaging at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, suggested that eating a plant-based diet, like veggies that boost the amount of nitrate, can help a person develop good oral bacteria, as well as suppress the number of bacteria that causes cognitive issues.