Gum Disease Impacts Brain Networks, Raising Alzheimer’s Concerns

Gum Disease Impacts Brain Networks, Raising Alzheimer’s Concerns
Gum Disease Impacts Brain Networks, Raising Alzheimer’s Concerns

United States: Some studies indicated that gum disease has an effect on the brain’s functions and could contribute to the decline of cognitive ability, as reported by HealthDay.

Individuals suffering from gum disease had different neural connectivity between the areas of the brain in comparison with healthy participants, as MRI showed in a recent study.

Periodontitis as a Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s

“These differences indicate that periodontitis might impair normal cognitive function,” a conclusion made by the research team, including Xaiohu Li, an associate professor of radiology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University in Hefei, China.

Further, the results indicate that “periodontitis might be a potential risk factor for brain damage and provides a theoretical clue and a new treatment target for the early prevention of Alzheimer’s disease,” the team wrote in its report published recently in the Journal of Periodontology.

Study Overview and Methodology

To accomplish the study’s goal, the experts observed the oral health and brain of 51 participants, out of whom 11 had healthy gums, 14 had mild gum diseases, and 26 had moderate and severe gum diseases.

The individuals with moderate-to-severe gum disease showed alterations in patterns between and within the brain regions, the researchers pointed out.

Therefore, it could be concluded that gum disease affects network function within the human brain.

Visual Representation.

“To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to compare brain function changes in elderly individuals with normal cognition with different severity levels of periodontitis from the perspective of brain networks,” researchers wrote.

These changes might be due to an inflammation of the brain encouraged by gum infections.

Bacteria present in diseased gums can penetrate the brain tissues and incite an immune response, according to investigators.

Inflammation and Bacterial Impact

Other prior studies have also noted increased occurrence of amyloid beta, which is characteristic of Alzheimer’s, in those who had gum disease, researchers pointed out.

“Apart from extending the knowledge of periodontitis, the described outcomes might also help to establish potential imaging markers and may offer new strategies for the early prevention of AD [Alzheimer’s disease],” the authors concluded, as reported by HealthDay.

‘Thus, the present study has significant implications for enhancing oral health as well as neurological health in the global society,’ the authors noted.