Brushing your teeth can block Alzheimer's disease and lower blood pressure

Clean teeth and fresh breath are not only good manners.

A series of recent studies has linked oral health to a number of diseases through oral bacteria that wreak havoc in the mouth and wreak havoc on other parts of the body. body.

Norwegian researchers have DNA evidence that "the bacteria responsible for gingivitis can move from the mouth to the brain," says Piotr Mydel of the Broegelmanns research laboratory at the University of Bergen (UiB). In the brain, a bacterium that causes gum disease, Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.gingivalis), produces a protein that destroys brain cells, leading to memory loss and possibly Alzheimer's disease.

In their study of 53 people with Alzheimer's, 96% of them were tested positive for this harmful enzyme.

Mydel has announced that his team will test a drug that "blocks" this process later this year. In the meantime, he says people with a family history of gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) or periodontitis (gum disease) and Alzheimer's should be assured of having their teeth cleaned regularly by a dentist.

Another study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found common oral pathogens in 79% of cerebral blood clot samples from 75 patients with stroke. In the mouth, streptococcal bacteria are harmless but can cause diseases throughout the body, including heart valve infections. The Tampere University team in Finland had already discovered the same type of bacteria in patients with heart attacks, coronary stenosis, cerebral aneurysms and venous or arterial thrombosis.

A related study published in the AHA journal Hypertension in 2018 also found a link between high blood pressure and poor oral hygiene. An examination of the medical and dental records of 3,600 people with hypertension revealed that patients with gum disease were 20% less likely to reach and maintain a healthy blood pressure than the people with healthy gums.

Dr. Davide Pietropaoli, principal investigator of the study and professor of dentistry at the University of L'Aquila, Italy, said: "Dental professionals need to be aware that oral health is essential to physiological health in general ".