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Posted on 10/7/2019 by Dr. Cheryl Freeman |
| In an earlier post, I spoke of the evidence linking some of the causative bacteria of periodontal disease directly to heart disease. More recently, studies have found a similar link between these bacteria and the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. In a January article on Health magazine, the author references a study by a prominent microbiologist from the University of Louisville in which the bacteria porphyromonas gingivalis was found in the brains of deceased Alzheimer’s patients. Not only that, but intentional infection with this pathogen in the brains of mice showed increased production of amyloid beta, the sticky proteins commonly associated with Alzheimer’s. Other findings in the study are strongly suggestive that this bacterial colonization is a part of the pathogenesis, not simply there as a result of the poor dental care that may often follow the onset of Alzheimer’s. It is becoming more and more clear and accepted that untreated inflammation is a root cause of so many chronic health conditions, and it is even implicated in cancer. And what is one of the most common chronic inflammatory conditions? Gingivitis and periodontitis. |
Randolph Center for Dental Excellence
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