Subj : Taking good care of your teeth may be go To : All From : ScienceDaily Date : Wed Jul 05 2023 22:30:22 Taking good care of your teeth may be good for your brain Poor dental health linked to decline in brain volume Date: July 5, 2023 Source: American Academy of Neurology Summary: Taking good care of your teeth may be linked to better brain health, according to a new study. The study found that gum disease and tooth loss were linked to brain shrinkage in the hippocampus, which plays a role in memory and Alzheimer's disease. The study does not prove that gum disease or tooth loss causes Alzheimer's disease; it only shows an association. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email ========================================================================== FULL STORY ========================================================================== Taking good care of your teeth may be linked to better brain health, according to a study published in the July 5, 2023, online issue of Neurology(R), the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study found that gum disease and tooth loss were linked to brain shrinkage in the hippocampus, which plays a role in memory and Alzheimer's disease. The study does not prove that gum disease or tooth loss causes Alzheimer's disease; it only shows an association. "Tooth loss and gum disease, which is inflammation of the tissue around the teeth that can cause shrinkage of the gums and loosening of the teeth, are very common, so evaluating a potential link with dementia is incredibly important," said study author Satoshi Yamaguchi, PhD, DDS, of Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. "Our study found that these conditions may play a role in the health of the brain area that controls thinking and memory, giving people another reason to take better care of their teeth." The study involved 172 people with an average age of 67 who did not have memory problems at the beginning of the study. Participants had dental exams and took memory tests at the beginning of the study. They also had brain scans to measure volume of the hippocampus at the beginning of the study and again four years later. For each participant, researchers counted the number of teeth and checked for gum disease by looking at periodontal probing depth, a measurement of the gum tissue. Healthy readings are from one to three millimeters. Mild gum disease involves probing depths of three or four millimeters in several areas, while severe gum disease involves probing depths of five or six millimeters in several areas as well as more bone loss and can cause teeth to become loose and eventually fall out. Researchers found that the number of teeth and amount of gum disease was linked to changes in the left hippocampus of the brain. For people with mild gum disease having fewer teeth was associated with a faster rate of brain shrinkage in the left hippocampus. However, for people with severe gum disease having more teeth was associated with a faster rate of brain shrinkage in the same area of the brain. After adjusting for age, researchers found that for people with mild gum disease, the increase in the rate of brain shrinkage due to one less tooth was equivalent to nearly one year of brain aging. Conversely, for people with severe gum disease the increase in brain shrinkage due to one more tooth was equivalent to 1.3 years of brain aging. "These results highlight the importance of preserving the health of the teeth and not just retaining the teeth," Yamaguchi said. "The findings suggest that retaining teeth with severe gum disease is associated with brain atrophy. Controlling the progression of gum disease through regular dental visits is crucial, and teeth with severe gum disease may need to be extracted and replaced with appropriate prosthetic devices." Yamaguchi said future studies are needed with larger groups of people. Another limitation of the study is that it was conducted in one region of Japan, so the results may not be generalizable to other locations. The study was supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Keio University; Japan Arteriosclerosis Prevention Fund; Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare; Teikyo University; Pfizer Japan; Bayer Yakuhin; Chugai Pharmaceutical; Daiichi Sankyo; Astellas Pharma; Takeda Pharmaceutical; Health Care Science Institute; Health Science Center; and Takeda Science Foundation. * RELATED_TOPICS o Health_&_Medicine # Dentistry # Healthy_Aging # Diseases_and_Conditions # Alzheimer's_Research o Mind_&_Brain # Disorders_and_Syndromes # Alzheimer's # Neuroscience # Dementia * RELATED_TERMS o Alzheimer's_disease o Dementia_with_Lewy_bodies o Dental_caries o Urinary_incontinence o Periodontal_disease o Parkinson's_disease o Excitotoxicity_and_cell_damage o Extraction_(dental) ========================================================================== Print Email Share ========================================================================== ****** 1 ****** ***** 2 ***** **** 3 **** *** 4 *** ** 5 ** Breaking this hour ========================================================================== * Why_Birds_Ancestors_Lived;_Other_Dinosaurs_Died * Dissolving_Cardiac_Device_Treats_Heart_Disease * Webb_Locates_Dust_Reservoirs_in_Two_Supernovae * Earth_Formed_from_Dry,_Rocky_Building_Blocks * Ancient_Volcanic_Activity_On_Moon's_Dark_Side * Highly_Conductive_Metallic_Gel_for_3D_Printing * Potent_Greenhouse_Gas_Could_Be_Abated_Today * Polymer_Brains_for_Artificial_Neural_Networks * Early_Apex_Predator_Sought_Soft_Over_... * Time_in_Universe_Once_Flowed_Five_Times_Slower Trending Topics this week ========================================================================== HEALTH_&_MEDICINE Fitness Genes Cholesterol MIND_&_BRAIN Child_Psychology Creativity Educational_Psychology LIVING_&_WELL Fitness Healthy_Aging Staying_Healthy ========================================================================== Strange & Offbeat ========================================================================== HEALTH_&_MEDICINE Grocery_Store_Carts_Set_to_Help_Diagnose_Common_Heart_Rhythm_Disorder_and Prevent_Stroke DNA_Can_Fold_Into_Complex_Shapes_to_Execute_New_Functions Everyone's_Brain_Has_a_Pain_Fingerprint_--_New_Research_Has_Revealed_for_the First_Time MIND_&_BRAIN AI_Tests_Into_Top_1%_for_Original_Creative_Thinking Scientists_Discover_Spiral-Shaped_Signals_That_Organize_Brain_Activity Illusions_Are_in_the_Eye,_Not_the_Mind LIVING_&_WELL AI_Tests_Into_Top_1%_for_Original_Creative_Thinking Amputees_Feel_Warmth_in_Their_Missing_Hand Why_Do_Champagne_Bubbles_Rise_the_Way_They_Do?_Scientists'_New_Discovery_Is Worthy_of_a_Toast Story Source: Materials provided by American_Academy_of_Neurology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. ========================================================================== Journal Reference: 1. Satoshi Yamaguchi, Takahisa Murakami, Michihiro Satoh, Takamasa Komiyama, Takashi Ohi, Yoshitada Miyoshi, Kosei Endo, Takako Hiratsuka, Azusa Hara, Yukako Tatsumi, Tomoko Totsune, Kei Asayama, Masahiro Kikuya, Kyoko Nomura, Atsushi Hozawa, Hirohito Metoki, Yutaka Imai, Makoto Watanabe, Takayoshi Ohkubo, Yoshinori Hattori. Associations of Dental Health With the Progression of Hippocampal Atrophy in Community-Dwelling Individuals: The Ohasama Study. Neurology, 2023; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207579 ========================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230705171101.htm --- up 1 year, 18 weeks, 2 days, 10 hours, 50 minutes * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3) .