A privately sponsored study confirmed that the bacteria that cause gum disease are present in the brains of people with Alzheimer's not just in their mouths.

What does this mean? Do microbial infections play a role in Alzheimer's disease. 

Co-founder Stephen Dominy is a psychiatrist who in the 1990’s was intrigued by the idea that Alzheimer’s could have an infectious cause. At that time he was working with HIV patients at U of C - SF.   Dr. Dominy began a project looking for P. Gingival-Is in Brain tissue from deceased patients with Alzheimer’s.

What was discovered was that brains with more Gingival-Is had higher quantities of Alzheimer’s linked proteins, tau, and ubiquitin.

 

A neuroscientist and chief science officer at the nonprofit Alzheimers Drug Discovery Foundation in NYC believe that it is worth pursuing that Gingival-Is is a drug target in Alzheimer’s disease. 

With this study still in its early years, we can assume that with better mouth cleansing, it may be preventive of Alzheimer’s disease, so continue to brush and floss!