Mouths and brains. Could oral infection be a risk factor for dementia?
- Correspondence to Dr Robert Stewart, Section of Epidemiology (Box 60), Institute of Psychiatry (King’s College London), De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK; r.stewart{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk
- Received 15 April 2009
- Accepted 16 April 2009
The paper by Noble and colleagues1 reports associations between a marker of a common periodontal pathogen P gingivalis and cognitive impairment in people aged 60 years and over from a large community survey (see page 1206). What might at first seem “yet another risk factor study” is actually building on a body of evidence which has been quietly accumulating concerning the relationships between oral/dental health and cognition.
That there might be such an association is not as surprising as it might seem. Cognitive function is likely to be influenced by nutrition (whether general dietary …
