Dental Health - British Society of Dental Hygiene & Therapy

eviewsReviewsIn this issue of Dental Health AlisonLowe provides a short summary of someinteresting items from other sources.This is your brain onsugar – study showshow high fructose dietsabotages learning andmemory.The Peer Reviewed Journalof Physiology.15th May 2012The results of a recent UCLA studyhave shown that a diet high in fructosealters the brain’s ability to learn andretain information. However, theaddition of Omega-3 fatty acids to thediet can counteract this disruption.Whilst earlier research has revealedhow fructose harms the body throughits role in diabetes and obesity, thisstudy is the first to uncover howsweeteners influence the brain.Sources of fructose in the western dietinclude cane sugar (sucrose) and highfructose corn syrup, an inexpensiveliquid sweetener (the researcherswere less concerned about naturallyoccurring fructose in fruits as they alsocontain important antioxidants). Theaverage American consumes 35lbs ofhigh fructose corn syrup per year.Researchers studied two groups ofrats that each consumed a fructosesolution as drinking water for sixweeks. The second group also receivedomega-3 fatty acids in the form offlaxseed oil and docoahexaenoicacid (DHA), which protects againstdamage to the synapses (the chemicalconnection between brain cells thatenable memory and learning). DHA isessential for synaptic function i.e. braincells’ ability to transmit signals to oneanother and since our bodies can notproduce DHA it must be supplementedthrough our diet.The animals were fed standard ratchow and trained in a maze twice dailybefore starting the experimental diet.The UCLA team tested how well therats were able to navigate the maze,which contained numerous holes butonly one exit (visual landmarks wereplaced in the maze to help the ratslearn and remember the way).Six weeks later, the researcherstested the rats’ ability to recall theroute and escape the maze. The secondgroup of rats navigated the maze muchfaster than the rats that did not receivethe omega 3 fatty acids.The DHA deprived rats were slower,their brains showed a delay in synapticactivity; disrupting their ability tothink clearly and recall the route theyhad learnt 6 weeks earlier. They hadalso developed a resistance to insulin(the hormone that controls bloodglucose and regulates synaptic functionin the brain). A closer look at therats’ brain tissue suggested that theinsulin had lost much of its power toinfluence the brain cells. Insulin hasan important role to play but because itcan penetrate the blood-brain barrier itmay signal neurons to trigger reactionsthat disrupt learning and causememory loss.It is thought that eating too muchfructose could block insulin’s ability toregulate how cells use and store sugarfor the energy required for processingthoughts and emotions. These findingsillustrate that what you eat affects howyou think – food for thought indeed.The association of dentalplaque with cancermortality in Sweden.A longitudinal study.BMJ Open 2012:2published 11th June 2012Dental plaque biofilm may beassociated with premature deathdue to cancer according to a studyof 1390 randomly selected youngSwedes followed up from 1985 to 2009.Research suggests that there may be alink between plaque levels and cancerand death due to cancer. Althoughthe cause and development of thedisease was not taken into account, thepresence of high bacterial load on toothsurfaces and gingival margins wasassociated with poor outcome.Of the 1390 participants, 4.2%(58) had died prematurely during thefollow up, 35 as a result of cancer.Causes of death were recorded fromnational statistics and classifiedaccording to the WHO classification ofdisease. The amount of dental plaquebetween those who had died versussurvived was statistically significantmaking it a strong independentpredictor. All subjects underwent oralclinical examination and answered aquestionnaire assessing backgroundvariables such as socioeconomic status,frequency of dental visits and smoking.Age increased the risk of death as didmale gender. The malignancies weremost widely scattered in men whilstbreast cancer was the most frequentcause of death in women.The study hypothesis was confirmedby showing that poor oral hygiene,as reflected in the amount of dentalplaque, was associated with increasedcancer mortality. Oral health incancer patients has been cited as aconcern during and following therapy.Although, the conclusions of the studydo not demonstrate cause and effect,they raise concerns about potentialsystemic consequences of poor oralhealth and more specifically death dueto cancer.34 Dental Health Volume 51 No 6 of 6 November 2012