Gum disease linked with Alzheimer's Disease
Gum disease may increase the risk of cognitive dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Researchers from New York University reviewed 20 years of data and combined this with newer findings suggesting a link between gum disease, brain inflammation and AD.
“The research suggests that cognitively normal subjects with periodontal inflammation are at an increased risk of lower cognitive function compared to cognitively normal subjects with little or no periodontal inflammation,” says Angela. Kamer, assistant professor of periodontology and implant dentistry at New York University.
The research follows on from older findings that people with AD had significantly higher levels of anti-inflammatory molecules that are usually associated with gum disease.
The newer findings are based on an analysis of data on periodontal inflammation and cognitive function in 152 subjects in the Glostrop Aging Study, which has been gathering medical, psychological, oral health, and social data on Danish men and women.
Kamer’s team compared cognitive function at ages 50 and 70, using the Digit Symbol Test, or DST, a part of the standard measurement of adult IQ. The DST assesses how quickly subjects can link a series of digits.
Periodontal inflammation at age 70 was found to be strongly associated with lower DST scores at age 70. Subjects with periodontal inflammation were nine times more likely to test in the lower range of the DST compared to subjects with little or no periodontal inflammation.
The links remained strong even for those with other risk factors associated with low DST scores. These factors include obesity, smoking and tooth loss. Furthermore the links were also evident in those that had a lower DST score at 50.
The study will be followed up by further research looking at a larger and more ethnically diverse population.
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