Bacteria That Cause Gum Disease Linked To Alzheimer's
Toothy Fun Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Wreaking havoc in your mouth and head Could Alzheimer's disease originate in your mouth? It sounds like a strange idea, but scientists have recently found one small clue that dental bacteria may play a role in some cases of Alzheimer's. A team of researchers from the U.K. and the U.S. found gum-disease bacteria in the brains of four people with Alzheimer's disease. The bacteria didn't appear in the brains of 10 people who didn't have Alzheimer's disease and had donated their brains to science. Six more people in the study who had Alzheimer's disease didn't have the bacteria. The study wasn't set up to show whether the bacterium-Porphyromonas gingivalis, a major cause of severe gum and tooth diseases-causes Alzheimer's. Instead, researchers were just aiming to see if the buggers could appear in the brain. And there they were. Bacteria in the mouth could hop into...