18 Feb Mouth Bacteria Linked to Stroke And Stroke-Related Dementia
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Robert Friedland
Dr. Robert Friedland MD
Mason C. and Mary D. Rudd Endowed Chair In Neurology
Professor, Dept. of Neurology
University of Louisville Health Care Outpatient Center
Louisville, KY 40292
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Robert Friedland: Oral infectious diseases are associated with stroke. Previous research by this group has shown that oral bacteria, cnm-positive Streptococcus mutans, was associated with cerebral microbleeds and intracerebral hemorrhage. We developed this study to investigate the roles of this bacteria in patients entering the hospital for all types of stroke. Among the patients who experienced intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), 26 percent were found to have a specific bacterium in their saliva, cnm-positive S. mutans. Among patients with other types of stroke, only 6 percent tested positive for the bacterium. We also evaluated MRIs of study subjects for the presence of cerebral microbleeds (CMB), small brain hemorrhages which may cause dementia and also often underlie ICH. We found that the number of CMBs was significantly higher in subjects with cnm-positive S. mutans than in those without.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Robert Friedland: These results reaffirm the connection between oral health and brain health. It would indicate that people need to take care of their teeth because it is good for their brain and heart as well as their teeth.
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Robert Friedland: The next step in this research is to document how improving oral health will improve the risk of stroke and stroke related dementia.
Medical Research: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Dr. Robert Friedland: We currently are investigating the role of oral and gut bacteria in the initiation of pathology in the neurodegenerative disorders Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.
Citation:
Shuichi Tonomura, Masafumi Ihara, Tomohiro Kawano, Tomotaka Tanaka, Yoshinori Okuno, Satoshi Saito, Robert P. Friedland, Nagato Kuriyama, Ryota Nomura, Yoshiyuki Watanabe, Kazuhiko Nakano, Kazunori Toyoda, Kazuyuki Nagatsuka. Intracerebral hemorrhage and deep microbleeds associated with cnm-positive Streptococcus mutans; a hospital cohort study. Scientific Reports, 2016; 6: 20074 DOI: 1038/srep20074
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Dr. Robert Friedland (2016). Mouth Bacteria Linked to Stroke And Stroke-Related Dementia MedicalResearch.com
Last Updated on February 18, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD