Oral health may be linked to Alzheimer’s disease according to research conducted in Japan

Taking good care of your oral health is just as important as taking care of any other aspect of your physical health.

Although many people have this knowledge, there is something that has been discovered recently that may bring more attention to oral health.

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A study published in the journal Neurologyshowing the results of a survey conducted in Japan of 172 people, with an average age of 67.

This research aims to understand whether there is a relationship between oral diseases and brain diseases.

According to information provided by the German news agency DW, the study participants did not have any kind of memory problems before the start of the studies.

We know this because all 172 subjects underwent memory tests, brain scans, and dental exams. Four years after the initial tests, all of the volunteers were given the same tests.

Research findings on oral and brain health

Thus, after four years, the researchers evaluated the oral health of the volunteers, analyzing the number of teeth and the presence or absence of gum disease.

Through this, the researchers were able to find a relationship between oral health and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

This is because people who have fewer teeth in their mouths and more gum disease have more atrophy in the left hippocampus, which is one of the parts of the brain responsible for memory.

Although this finding has been made, Satoshi Yamaguchi, one of the authors, says that this may not have a direct connection between oral problems and brain atrophy.

This is because the factors were linked, as those with mild oral disease and those with more severe disease had hippocampal atrophy.

However, more investigations and research on these factors are still needed, but they may have opened the door to the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease in the future.