Help Stave off Arthritis With A Toothbrush?

Well, this isn’t a story I expected to read. From the Daily Mail UK,

“The research, from the Academic Centre for Dentistry in Amsterdam, looked at 50 people with rheumatoid arthritis and 50 with inflammatory joint pain.

They looked at bacteria on the volunteers’ tongues, saliva and plaque, and compared them with 50 healthy people of a similar age.

Those with rheumatoid arthritis and those at risk of getting it were found to have greater levels of two types of bacteria – including one known to cause chronic inflammation in the body.

The findings, published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology, suggest good oral hygiene could ward off harmful bacteria and the risk of the condition.”

As I always caution with the reporting of studies like this, don’t mix up causation with correlation. It’s possible these facts – more oral bacteria & greater instances of arthritis – are related but not guaranteed that one is the cause of the other. But, if something as simple as this could help relieve the torture of Rheumatoid arthrits for it’s millions of sufferers, it’s certainly something we should investigate more.

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