Oral bacteria linked to Alzheimer's

We all dread becoming senile when we get old. It's a very sad and tragic health problem.

But by keeping your teeth and mouth healthy, you may be able to prevent or at least greatly delay the onset of cognitive impairments like Alzheimer's.

An article in the Journal of Oral Microbiology states that oral infections can be a potential contributing factor to the onset of dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

http://www.journaloforalmicrobiology.net/index.php/jom/article/view/29143

QUOTE

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a scourge of longevity that will drain enormous resources from public health budgets in the future. 

Currently, there is no diagnostic biomarker and/or treatment for this most common form of dementia in humans. 

AD can be of early familial-onset or sporadic with a late-onset. Apart from the two main hallmarks, amyloid-beta and neurofibrillary tangles, inflammation is a characteristic feature of AD neuropathology. Inflammation may be caused by a local central nervous system insult and/or by peripheral infections. 

Numerous microorganisms are suspected in AD brains ranging from bacteria (mainly oral and non-oral Treponema species), viruses (herpes simplex type I), and yeasts (Candida species). 

A causal relationship between periodontal pathogens and non-oral Treponema species of bacteria has been proposed via the amyloid-beta and inflammatory links. Periodontitis constitutes a peripheral oral infection that can provide the brain with intact bacteria and virulence factors and inflammatory mediators due to daily, transient bacteremias. 

If and when genetic risk factors meet environmental risk factors in the brain, disease is expressed, in which neurocognition may be impacted, leading to the development of dementia. 

To achieve the goal of finding a diagnostic biomarker and possible prophylactic treatment for AD, there is an initial need to solve the etiological puzzle contributing to its pathogenesis. 

This review therefore addresses oral infection as the plausible etiology of late-onset AD (LOAD).

.......

As for diagnostic biomarkers, increased antibody levels to specific oral pathogens in particular to P. gingivalis may be used as a monitoring tool years before clinical manifestation of AD. This is important because treatment will probably have to start early.

END QUOTE

The importance of good dental hygiene and oral health hits home when we consider how keep our mouths clean and free of infections can have an impact on our mental health and cognitive functioning as we age.

Dentistry Today provides this information about oral infections and their link to dementia issues.

QUOTE

Severe systemic fungal infections have dramatically increased among the elderly during the past 30 years, the researchers noted. 

Oral yeasts can be found in periodontal pockets and root canals, as well as on the mucosae and underneath dentures. 

Also, fungal molecules including proteins and polysaccharides were detected in peripheral blood serum. Fungal proteins and DNA were demonstrated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the brain tissue of AD patients as well.

END QUOTE