How Brushing Your Teeth May Help Prevent Alzheimer's Disease
Here's some advice that is much too simplistic: brush your teeth to prevent Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Overly simplistic, perhaps, but a fascinating new study that examined pairs of twins reveals that when periodontal disease is avoided in youth and middle-age, Alzheimer's risk may be dramatically reduced.
The key is inflammation.
People suffering with Alzheimers are more likely to develop periodontal disease
Last month, researchers gathered in Washington, D.C. in the US, for the first Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Prevention of Dementia. One of the most intriguing presentations came from a University of Southern California (USC) team, in conjunction with researchers from Sweden's Karolinska Institute.
Scientists know that Alzheimer's may be passed along though genetics. Studies have shown that when one twin has AD, the chance that the other twin will develop the disease is quite high: around 60 percent. In the USC study, researchers examined data for 10,000 sets of twins enrolled in the Swedish Twin Registry. About 40 years ago, participants in the registry completed questionnaires that included detailed dental data. The questionnaire information was examined along with follow up medical records.
The USC team found 109 instances where one twin was diagnosed with dementia and the other wasn't. Those with AD were four times more likely to have developed periodontal disease in middle age compared to their twins . . .
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