Most of us were told over and over again as children that we needed to take good care of our teeth. If your parents were anything like mine, you were told that if you didn’t, they would rot and you’d have to have them pulled out and wear dentures for the rest of your life.
And while brushing your teeth is good, and while taking good care of them will help you to avoid losing them because of cavities and other dental health issues, there’s a lot more to brushing your teeth than just preventing rotten teeth.
A new study from the University of Bergen in Norway has stated that there may be a connection between dental health and Alzheimer’s disease. In their study, they found that individuals who brushed their teeth regularly and practiced good oral hygiene were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease during their senior years than people who did not practice good oral hygiene. Apparently, there is a connection between gingivitis–a gum disease–and Alzheimer’s.
These researchers found that there was a positive correlation between the two. After looking at over 50 individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s, they found that about 96 percent of them had the bacteria that comes along with gingivitis present in their bodies. Apparently, this gum disease creates a bacteria that can travel to the brain and help to stimulate the symptoms that are commonly associated with Alzheimer’s.
Although this seems like a loose connection, it does give researchers a potentially new way to help treat and prevent this type of dementia. Hopefully, this knowledge can go on to help elderly individuals live longer and healthier lives, all while helping them to preserve their cognitive functioning and memory. The researchers behind this study believe that it is possible to block the effects of this bacteria, thus potentially preventing Alzheimer’s disease from developing.
Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or any other form of dementia is difficult. It requires a special skill set and a lot of patience. If you’ve provided this care for a while, you are already well aware of the challenges that will be present. If you are new to caring for a loved one, there’s a lot to learn. Even those who have provided memory care for a while experience frustrations and setbacks on a regular basis. Having a professional caregiver on your side to help you with these things can be a blessing.
If you’re in the beginning stages of looking for a caregiver, feel free to reach out to us. We provide free consultations in the Bay Area to help you get started with your search in an informed manner. Our trained staff of professional caregivers would love to answer your questions and help you to figure out whether or not in-home care is the right way to go when it comes to the memory care of your loved one. And if it’s not the right choice for you, we can help point you toward the resources that will help you the most.
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