The thinking ability in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease deteriorates more quickly when they also have gum disease, a new study shows.

Periodontitis or gum disease is common in older people and may become more common in Alzheimer’s disease because of a reduced ability to take care of oral hygiene as the disease progresses.  Such gum disease results in higher greater rates of cognitive decline in such patients, previous research shows.

Researchers in the UK set out to determine whether such gum disease is associated with an increase in severe dementia in such patients, and whether this also speeds their cognitive decline.

This study involved 59 participants with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.  Their thinking skills were assessed and a blood sample taken to measure inflammatory markers. A dental hygienist evaluated their gum health and all these tests were repeated six months later.

Those patients with gum disease at the start of the study declined six-fold in their cognitive ability over the six-month follow-up period. Their blood also showed an increase in pro-inflammatory markers.

The exact reason for the decline wasn’t determined, but research increasingly shows that chronic bodily inflammation leads to damage throughout the body, leading in increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, and possibly dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as well.

Because of these findings, further research should be done to determine how gum treatment can help people with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, said the researchers of the study, which appears in PLOS ONE.