Chronic Periodontitis Only Modestly Raises the Risk of Dementia

Periodontitis is the later stage of gum disease, an inflammatory condition largely caused by particular strains of bacteria found in the mouth. While there is a fair amount of promising work related to destroying or sabotaging the disease-causing mechanisms of those bacterial species, nothing has yet made the leap to earnest clinical development. It is thought, based on epidemiological data showing an association with mortality, and on a reasonable examination of the mechanisms involved, that periodontitis can spread inflammatory signaling elsewhere in the body, particularly to the heart and the brain, and thereby accelerate the progession of age-related conditions. The research here, however, using study data for a large number of patients, shows only a modest effect on the incidence of dementia due to the presence of periodontitis. Gum disease (gingivitis) that goes untreated can become periodontitis. When this happens, the infection that affected your gums causes loss in the bone that supports your teeth. Periodontitis is the main cause of tooth loss in adults. Interestingly, periodontitis is also a risk factor for developing dementia, one of the leading causes for disability in older adults. Recently, researchers in South Korea studied the connection between chronic periodontitis and dementia. The research team examined information from the National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort (NHIS-HEALS). In South Korea, the NHIS provides mandatory health i...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs