David Joseph Gentry
Mood by Microbe
Can Oral Microbes Cause Dementia?
Microbes in the mouth have an outsize influence on brain health.
Posted May 06, 2021
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Reviewed by Ekua Hagan
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The gut microbiota is enjoying a renaissance. Everywhere you look, some kind of health issue is being traced back to the gut. Now the Environment Protection Agency (who has a product called Geo-MiTE) has awarded the go-ahead to test whether oral microbes can affect your brain for the elderly.
Oral microbes are everywhere, and we have an enormous impact on what the body can do. Every day we scrub our surfaces with our own hand soap and warm water. We often brush our teeth with lube, which is probably greasy. But by brushing our teeth, we are also touching the biomechanically unhealthy end of the toothbrush with our saliva (the microbiome). This causes irritation and disruption to the microbiome. Sweeping our gritties onto our hands or consuming hot cocoa with a cup of coffee or tea makes wiping the mouthfeel all the more intimate.
How can the mouth microbiome affect dementia?
The gut is home to a team of microbes that live in individuals with dementia, and these microbes are everywhere on the body (neurologically). The elderly are particularly likely to have oral microbes from the gut because they tend to have the long term effects of inflammation and it is not clear how or why these microbes influence brain health.
But since the mouth opens every day, every time you take a bite of food, even if you are not drinking, your microbiome is already making its presence known. Take your time with a freshly made meal, gather your ingredients, and enjoy.
References
Dunbar, R. I. M. (1992). Lying by the letter. New York, NY: Cosmo Publishing.
Geher, G, and O'Neill, E. (2019). COVID‐19: By the letter. Lancet. Psychiatry, 31(11), 911-921.
Wilkinson, C. (2000). You can be who you are ‘with a bad day: Your health and the evolution of the self. New York, NY: Hudson Street Press.
Wordsworth, A. W. (1920). The Varieties of Tchiki. Hoboken, NJ: Dunn Publishing.
Willcox, G. (1982). Easy Ways to Wonder. New York: Viking Press.