And Speaking of Teeth...

If you want to keep your wits about you later in life, take good care of your teeth now. A study published in the October, 2008, issue of Psychosomatic Medicine found that older people with gum disease and poor dentition were more likely to be mentally impaired than seniors whose teeth and gums were in good shape. The difference could be due to inflammation stemming from gum disease that becomes systemic and affects brain function, said the British researchers who conducted the study. They analyzed data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III. The team looked at 5,138 adults aged 20 to 59 who had completed two tests of cognitive function, and another 1,555 adults aged 70 and older who took a different mental function test. After adjusting for age, they found links between worse performance on any of the three tests and poor oral health. In addition to the possibility that inflammation might be responsible, the researchers suggested that poor oral health could lead to poor diet resulting in nutritional deficiencies that could contribute to declining mental function.