3 Feb 2023 • According to preliminary research to be presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2023, gum disease, missing teeth and other signs of poor oral health, as well as poor brushing habits and lack of plaque removal, increase stroke risk. Study author Cyprien Rivier, M.D., M.S., a postdoctoral fellow in neurology at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. “Studying oral health is especially important because poor oral health happens frequently and is an easily modifiable risk factor".

Between 2014 and 2021, researchers in this study analyzed the potential link between oral health and brain health among about 40,000 adults (46% men, average age 57 years) without a history of stroke enrolled in the U.K. Biobank. Participants were screened for 105 genetic variants known to predispose persons to have cavities, dentures and missing teeth later in life, and the relationship between the burden of these genetic risk factors for poor oral health and brain health was evaluated.

Signs of poor brain health were screened via MRI images of the participants’ brains: white matter hyperintensities, defined as accumulated damage in the brain’s white matter, which may impair memory, balance and mobility. The analysis found :

• People who were genetically prone to cavities, missing teeth or needing dentures had a higher burden of silent cerebrovascular disease, as represented by a 24% increase in the amount of white matter hyperintensities visible on the MRI images.
• Those with overall genetically poor oral health had increased damage to the fine architecture of the brain, as represented by a 43% change in microstructural damage scores visible on the MRI scans.

The study was funded by the American Heart Association.

Source: AHA | Read full story