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Alzheimer's disease is a devastating disease that often requires early diagnosis to be effectively treated, but there is still no cure for the disease and very little evidence of its cause. Now, a new research effort points to a link between Alzheimer's disease and something we can not expect: gum disease.
The study, published in Science Advances, investigated the potential link between a type of bacterium badociated with gum disease and the effects of Alzheimer's disease on the brain. Laboratory tests on mice have demonstrated the potential of the bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis to move from the mouth of a subject to his brain, resulting in the destruction of neurons.
The bacterium attacks brain cells with a hostile protein while promoting the formation of plague in the brain tissue found in patients with Alzheimer's disease. This would seem to be a pretty choppy survey with pretty spectacular results, but other scientists in the field are not completely sold on the results.
As BBC reports, there are some serious questions to be solved. The most notable is whether the bacterium promotes Alzheimer's disease or if it is simply a byproduct of brain disease. Alzheimer's patients may be less able to fight brain infections, which means that it is possible that the disease opens the door for invasion of the brain by the bacteria, rather than the other way around.
This is one of many potential advances in Alzheimer's disease research that will take place in January. Earlier this week, researchers at Washington State University announced the development of a new type of blood test that appears to be able to predict the effects of the disease up to 16 years before onset symptoms.
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