"Carious monsters" will help diagnose a stroke

Oral bacteria "predict" stroke risk

Margarita Paimakova, Vesti

New studies of patients admitted to the hospital with an acute stroke have allowed scientists to verify the relationship between certain types of stroke and the presence of Streptococcus mutans bacteria in the human oral cavity.

CNM-positive bacteria S. mutans are found in about 10% of the population, they are responsible for the appearance of caries.

Earlier, Japanese scientists from the National Center for Cerebral and Cardiovascular Diseases in Osaka observed stroke patients to better understand the relationship between hemorrhagic stroke (the most severe brain catastrophe with vascular rupture and cerebral hemorrhage - VM) and bacteria in the oral cavity. A specific bacterium, CNM–positive S. mutans, was found in the saliva of 26% of patients who experienced intracerebral hemorrhage. Among patients with other types of stroke, a similar result was found only in 6% of cases.

Ischemic stroke is characterized by a blockage of one or more vessels supplying blood to the brain, and with a hemorrhagic stroke, blood vessels in the brain rupture and, as a result, bleeding begins.

The researchers conducted an MRI of the patients' brains for the presence of cerebral microbleeds (they can cause dementia and often underlie intracerebral hemorrhage). As it turned out, the risk of microbleeds is significantly higher in those patients whose saliva contains CNM-positive bacteria S. mutans.

Researchers from the University of Louisville believe that streptococci can affect the condition of blood vessels in the body of people aged or suffering from high blood pressure. As a result, they have a higher risk of rupture of blood vessels in the brain, a higher risk of both small and large hemorrhages.

"Our study has once again shown that oral health is also important for the health of the heart and brain," comments in a press release “Oral bacteria linked to risk of stroke" one of the authors of the study, Robert Friedland (Robert P. Friedland). "People should take care of their teeth, as bacteria living in the oral cavity are involved in several types of stroke, including brain hemorrhages and strokes leading to dementia."

We should add that the previous work of scientists also helped to discover the relationship between diseases of the oral cavity, teeth and rheumatoid arthritis.

In the near future, researchers plan to identify the relationship between intestinal and oral bacteria and other diseases, for example, neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

A scientific paper by Friedland's group (Tonomura et al., Intracerebral hemorrhage and deep microbleeds associated with cnm-positiveStreptococcus mutans; a hospital cohort study) was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru 19.02.2015