People who do not have chewing problems are less likely to develop dementia, reports the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
With age, mental performance may decline – memory, decision-making and problem-solving abilities deteriorate. As shown by scientific research, among the factors that favor such changes is also … the lack of teeth.
In an effort to explain this relationship, Swedish scientists from the Karolinska Institutet and the University of Karlstadt looked at tooth loss, chewing ability and cognitive function in a group of 557 selected people aged 77 and above from all over Sweden.
As it turned out, people who had difficulty chewing, for example, apples were at a much higher risk of cognitive impairment. This relationship turned out not to be related to age, gender, education or mental problems – factors whose influence on mental performance is often described. It did not matter whether the respondents used their own teeth or artificial teeth – it only mattered whether they chewed well (PAP).
pmw/ krf/