2023-08-21 08:02:09
Gum disease speeds up brain contraction
Enter 2023.08.21 17:00 Hits 341 Enter 2023.08.21 17:00 Edit 2023.08.21 15:29 Hits 341
Maintaining healthy teeth through proper brushing also helps prevent dementia. [사진=클립아트코리아]There is a saying that healthy teeth are one of the five blessings. If you have bad teeth, you cannot enjoy the pleasure of eating, which is because it harms your health.
However, research has shown that healthy teeth must be maintained for brain health. Diseases that brushing your teeth can prevent include dementia.
According to a study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, maintaining good dental health is associated with improved brain health.
Researchers at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, investigated the relationship between the hippocampus, a brain region associated with memory, gum disease and tooth loss. “Teeth loss and gum disease, in which the tissues around the teeth become inflamed, leading to contraction of the gums and loosening of the teeth, are so common that it is very important to assess their potential association with dementia,” the researchers said.
The study involved 172 people with an average age of 67 who had no memory problems. Participants underwent dental examinations and memory tests. Brain scans were taken to measure the volume of the hippocampus at the beginning of the study and following 4 years, respectively.
The researchers counted the number of teeth in the participants and looked at the depth of a periodontal probe, which measures gum tissue, to see if they had gum disease. A healthy probing depth is 1 to 3 mm, and mild gum disease may show a probing depth of 3 to 4 mm in several areas. Severe gum disease involves probing depths of 5 to 6 mm in many areas and more bone loss, which can loosen teeth and eventually cause them to fall out.
As a result, the researchers found that the number of teeth and the severity of gum disease were related to changes in the left hippocampus of the brain. In people with mild gum disease, fewer teeth correlated with faster brain contraction in the left hippocampus. However, in people with severe gum disease, more teeth increased the rate of brain shrinkage in the same area of the brain.
For people with mild gum disease, the rate at which the brain shrank when one tooth was lost was equivalent to aging the brain for nearly a year. Conversely, in people with severe gum disease, the rate at which their brains shrank when they added one more tooth was equivalent to aging their brains by 1.3 years.
After all, retaining teeth with severe gum disease is associated with brain shrinkage. Dr. Satoshi Yamaguchi, the author of the study, said, “The results of the study show the importance of preserving dental health, not just maintaining teeth.” did.
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