Taking a Bite out of Alzheimer’s

We used to think root canals were bad. Then we learned that poor oral hygiene can cause everything from heart problems to diabetes. Now more news: The state of your teeth may affect your mind too. Over ten years, doctors at the University of Kentucky, USA, tested 144 nuns ages 75 to 98 on memory and everyday functioning, and analyzed dental records. Those with fewer than ten teeth at the start were more likely to develop dementia. Why? It may be due to inflammation or nutritional deficiencies, infection or childhood diseases (which could affect the developing brain and lead to dental problems). More research is needed, but keep this study in mind next time you’re “too busy” to floss.

In other news, a blood test with a 90% accuracy rate may one day predict Alzheimer’s. The test also predicted who would get sick more than two years before diagnosis.

- Neena Samuel



It’s All in Your Head

Picture this: You’re wide-awake and a surgeon is guiding a hair-thin wire with tiny electrical probes deep into your brain. Today this is largely experimental, but in the future the technique could treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), even paralysis—all via a pacemaker usually implanted beneath the collarbone.

The procedure, called deep brain stimulation (DBS), is already used to treat Parkinson’s symptoms when drugs don’t help and is being tested on many other neurological disorders. The beneficial effects of DBS are often felt immediately, since the pacemaker sends electrical impulses to block the nerve signals that cause symptoms.

“DBS is opening up a new frontier just like cardiac pacemakers did 25 years ago,” says Dr Ali Rezai, a neurosurgeon who is looking at new uses for DBS. “It’s going to revolutionize the way we treat brain disorders.” It may eventually be approved to treat depression and OCD also.

- Kathryn M. Tyranski



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