Poor oral health is linked to Alzeimer’s: a new study

Turns out, poor oral doesn’t just mean bad breath, dental caries, and gum issues. According to a recent study, poor oral health could also mean the onset of Alzheimer's disease. According to the study published in the Science Advances, researchers have found evidence for a link between bacteria in a common type of disease and people with dementia. The study identified Porphyromonas gingivalis – the keystone pathogen in chronic periodontitis -- in the brain of Alzheimer's disease patients.

The study also identified Toxic proteases from the bacterium called gingipains in the brain of Alzheimer's patients, and levels correlated with tau and ubiquitin pathology.The study could be a hope for a new method of managing the illness, for which there is no cure and no effective treatments, a news agency reported.

Tests on mice confirmed the bacteria could travel from the mouth to the brain and showed the toxic protein they secrete, called gingipain, which destroyed brain neurons. The observations showed an increase in the production of amyloid beta, a component of the amyloid plaques commonly associated with Alzheimer's.

Following this, scientists Stephen Dominy from founders of the pharmaceutical firm Cortexyme tested drugs in mice aimed at blocking the toxic proteins and found they were able to halt degeneration in the brain. The team has now developed a new drug they hope could form the basis of human treatment and plan to test it in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's, in a clinical trial later in 2019.