[manmal]

There‘s also a weird relation with the oral microbiome. Probably not that surprising, seeing how much translocation is actually happening between our microbiomes.

Just an n=1 ofc, but someone in my family got all their remaining teeth pulled and replaced with implants, and afterwards, within 3 years went from asymptomatic to dead from AD. The progression was mind boggling. I‘ve wondered for a long time whether the oral work was related to this - the surgery caused so much damage that it certainly exceeded capacity to heal, opening the doors wide for any pathogens.

[pedalpete]

I agree to a point, but you also have to consider, why did they have to get their "remaining teeth pulled"? It is entirely likely the AD was present before the teeth were removed.

I had an uncle with AD, and he hid it VERY well for quite a few years. We would have thought he was asymptomatic, but we suspect it was just that we didn't know.

[manmal]

Yes that may well be.

[tim333]

I guess it only takes one bad pathogen to get in and it's hard to know what happened without scientific testing.

The Guardian article I linked in another comment has for one guy "sample of his cerebrospinal fluid was taken and revealed a fungal infection..." which it shows it's possible at least to some extent to test for this kind of stuff. (article https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/dec/01/the-bra...)

It seems a bit of an under explored area. I suspected something like that with my dad who had a long deterioration of nerves/mind but current medics don't seem to regard it as a thing to do. It's more get your affairs together before the care home/death. While the guy in the Guardian article guesses that likely more than 50% of dementias are treatable infections.

[m463]

I've heard prion disease can be transmitted by dentistry. Makes me wonder.

[Madmallard]

How old were they when this happened?

[manmal]

About 60