Chewing ability linked to reduced dementia risk

January, 2013

A large study of older adults suggests that being able to bite into a hard food such as an apple puts you in a better state to fight cognitive decline and dementia.

Previous research has pointed to an association between not having teeth and a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia. One reason might have to do with inflammation — inflammation is a well-established risk factor, and at least one study has linked gum disease to a higher dementia risk. Or it might have to do with the simple mechanical act of chewing, reducing blood flow to the brain. A new study has directly investigated chewing ability in older adults.

The Swedish study, involving 557 older adults (77+), found that those with multiple tooth loss, and those who had difficulty chewing hard food such as apples, had a significantly higher risk of developing cognitive impairments (cognitive status was measured using the MMSE). However, when adjusted for sex, age, and education, tooth loss was no longer significant, but chewing difficulties remained significant.

In other words, what had caused the tooth loss didn’t matter. The important thing was to maintain chewing ability, whether with your own natural teeth or dentures.

This idea that the physical act of chewing might affect your cognitive function (on a regular basis; I don’t think anyone is suggesting that you’re brighter when you chew!) is an intriguing and unexpected one. It does, however, give even more emphasis to the importance of physical exercise, which is a much better way of increasing blood flow to the brain.

The finding also reminds us that there are many things going on in the brain that may deteriorate with age and thus lead to cognitive decline and even dementia.

Reference: 

Related News

Mild cognitive impairment (

A large study using data from the famous Framingham Heart Study has compared changes in dementia onset over the last three decades. The study found that over time the age of onset has increased while the length of time spent with dementia has decreased.

Data from more than 17,000 healthy people aged 50 and over has revealed that the more regularly participants engaged with word puzzles, the better they performed on tasks assessing attention, reasoning and memory.

Unplanned hospitalizations accelerate cognitive decline in older adults

Data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project has found that emergency and urgent hospitalizations are associated with an increased rate of cognitive decline in older adults.

A Finnish study involving 338 older adults (average age 66) has found that greater muscle strength is associated with better cognitive function.

Data from over 11,500 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort has found evidence that orthostatic hypotension in middle age may increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia 20 years later.

A review of 39 studies investigating the effect of exercise on cognition in older adults (50+) confirms that physical exercise does indeed improve cognitive function in the over 50s, regardless of their cognitive status.

A Canadian study involving 40 older adults (59-81), none of whom were aware of any major memory problems, has found that those scoring below 26 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) dementia screening test also showed shrinking of the anterolateral

A study involving 35 adults with

In Australia, it has beens estimated that 9% of people aged over 65, and 30% of those aged over 85 have dementia. However, these estimates are largely based on older data from other countries, or small local samples.

Pages

Subscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest health newsSubscribe to Latest news
Error | About memory

Error

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.