DENTAL RESEARCH - Anti-Snoring Devices May Help Alzheimer’s – More Evidence For A Link Between Obesity And Gum Disease – ‘Affluence’ Predisposes To Caries and Tooth Wear
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- Published: Friday, 03 December 2021 07:56
- Written by Chris Tapper
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Researchers in the USA have found that anti-snoring devices may improve cognitive function in individuals who suffer from mild cognitive impairment.
The Center for BrainHealth said on the Medical X Press website, “A good night’s sleep plays an essential role in regulating brain health by removing the waste material and toxins that accumulate. Although many things can disturb sleep, one of the most common causes is snoring or other breathing issues that cause obstructive sleep apnoea.”
The Center for BrainHealth (CBH) team “Discovered that maximum breathing rate can be used to distinguish healthy individuals from people with mild cognitive impairment and those with Alzheimer’s disease.”
“The researchers also found that a dental device to reduce snoring improves cognitive function in individuals who suffer from mild cognitive impairment.”
The pilot study was carried out at The University of Texas at Dallas and Texas A&M University and included 18 participants aged 55-85 with a history of snoring.
CBH said “About one third of participants had mild cognitive impairment and another third had Alzheimer’s disease.”
Portable recorders collected date on their breathing rate, heart rate and snoring, while they slept at home, and then clinicians from CBH assessed the memory function, executive
To examine how breathing rate relates to an individual’s cognitive function, participants slept at home while portable recorders collected data on their breathing rate, heart rate and snoring. Clinicians from the Center for BrainHealth then assessed the participants’ memory, executive function, and attention.
“The team found that the maximum breathing rate during uninterrupted periods of sleep can differentiate healthy individuals from individuals with either Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment.
"We saw three distinct patterns amongst the groups of people, meaning we can look for a breathing pattern that might predispose individuals to having dementia," said Emet Schneiderman, Ph.D., a co-author on the study and Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University College of Dentistry,” Medical X Press said.
Participants wore an anti-snoring device at night for a month and snoring decreased.
“After the intervention period, cognitive function—especially in the domain of memory—no longer differed between healthy individuals and individuals with mild cognitive impairment.”
“This suggests better sleep improves cognition in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. "If we can make significant changes for individuals with mild cognitive impairment, we can slow the onset of Alzheimer’s disease," said Dr Namrata Das,” CBH said.
The findings were published recently in Geriatrics.
Obesity and Gum Disease
In another study, it’s been suggested that the inflammation cause in the body by excessive weight may now be associated with gum disease.
A study published in the Journal of Dental Research has found that the excessive inflammation linked to obesity increases the number of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC’s), which can then differentiate into osteoclasts, The Eat This, Not That website said.
"Previous research suggests there’s a clear relationship between obesity and gum disease and our study shows that might be due to higher amounts of osteoclasts," says study co-author Dr Keith Kirkwood, professor of oral biology at the University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine.”
“Although the study examined two groups of mice—with one group fed a diet that caused fast weight gain and subsequent inflammation spikes—the results are likely similar in people since the mechanism is the same, says Kirkwood,” Eat This, Not That said.
"This process would not only explain the connection between excess weight and gum disease, but may also shed light on mechanisms behind other inflammatory, bone-related diseases that tend to develop along with obesity," he adds. That includes arthritis and osteoporosis.”
Affluence and Tooth Wear
The Dental Tribune has reported that affluence may predispose people to caries and tooth wear.
A global meta-analysis of 65 studies that included 64,000 participants “Found that children who attend private schools or have a high family income are more susceptible to tooth wear compared with those from lower socio-economic backgrounds,” the Dental Tribune said.
Additionally, researchers reported that “Increased access to soft drinks, energy drinks and packaged juices increased the risk of caries in affluent countries, predisposing their populations to higher erosive risk.”
The research was led by Dr Khaled Ahmed, senior lecturer in prosthodontics in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at Griffith University in the Gold Coast, Australia
“The study also found that adolescents whose parents had higher levels of education and wealth and who attended private schools showed a greater tooth wear prevalence, whereas adults who received higher education had a reduced risk of developing tooth wear.”
The Dental Tribune reported “According to the researchers, there are three main recommendations that the study presents. First of all, regarding public policy initiatives, Dr Ahmed believes that the confirmed link between tooth wear and affluence supports a mandate to review access to acidic food items such as fizzy drinks and packaged fruit juices.”
“Whereas some of them contain little or no sugar, they remain detrimental to oral health owing to their acidic content.”
The study can be found here.
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