Could the cure for Alzheimer’s be in our mouths? New trial explores possible link

Could the key to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease be in our mouths? It’s a question researchers hope to answer in a new clinical trial.

Dr. Anna Burke is the director of the Alzheimer's and Memory Disorders Program at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. She says this latest trial is testing a new, oral medication that could slow down the progression of the disease.

"There are bacteria in your mouth, something called P. gingivalis, that are very common and actually cause this inflammation in the oral cavity in the gums," she explains.

That bacteria can enter the bloodstream through daily activities, things like chewing or even brushing your teeth.

Burke says eventually they can migrate up to the brain and injure the blood-brain barrier, and making it more prone to infections and all kinds of insults from the environment.

That, she says, can "trigger immune responses in our brains. And with that, they can start the cascade that leads to damage to build up of things like amyloid and tau and further damage of these proteins inside our brain cells."

Burke says they’re looking for study participants who have been diagnosed with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease and screen positive for the bacteria that causes gingivitis.

This trial is one of several globally. And Burke says in time, the way we treat Alzheimer’s could look similar to how we treat HIV — not with one medication, but rather a cocktail.