Tonight at 5:30 PM MST, join us for a live Poolside Chat as we continue the discussion from our Port of Call Podcast and go deeper into what dementia really is and what it means when you’re just beginning a caregiving journey. Free to join. Come listen, share, or simply be present. February 24th @ 5:30 pm MST Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../register/PRzPtXKIRf-NNdHzhSToUg

Thank you to everyone who was able to join! If you weren't able to join, please watch the recording (Classroom > Poolside Chats Library) Don't forget to join us for the next Poolside on March 24 @ 5:30pm AZ time! https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/PRzPtXKIRf-NNdHzhSToUg Please invite someone to join! Spread the Lifeboat love!

Sorry, im not going to make it tonight. I have an Alzheimers volunteer zoom i have to attend. I'll check it later though! Have a great poolside!

Gum disease raises your dementia risk by 70%. And your dentist probably hasn't mentioned it. Here's why oral health belongs in the brain health conversation: Researchers found a gum disease bacteria called Porphyromonas gingivalis in 96% of Alzheimer's brains examined at autopsy. It shouldn't be there. This pathogen produces toxic enzymes called gingipains that damage the neurons responsible for memory and destroy tau proteins in ways that mirror what we see in Alzheimer's pathology. Oral inflammation also keeps appearing in the same population-level data as high cardiovascular mortality. Not occasionally. Consistently. That's not coincidence. That's a pattern worth taking seriously. Here's what the evidence actually points to: 1. Oral inflammation is a visible early warning signal ↳ Most useful biomarkers require expensive imaging or bloodwork ↳ This one shows up at a routine dental exam that many people already get ↳ We have the signal. We're largely ignoring it. 2. The body doesn't work in pieces. Our healthcare system does. ↳ Cardiovascular, brain, and oral health share the same inflammatory pathways ↳ Chronic oral inflammation raises systemic CRP and cytokine levels ↳ Three specialties. One body. Zero communication between them. 3. Dental access is an invisible health equity problem ↳ Many high-cardiovascular-risk patients don't see a dentist regularly ↳ Cost, coverage gaps, or simply not knowing oral health matters systemically ↳ Oral inflammation goes undetected in exactly the people who need the signal most 4. The causal question is still open and I want to be honest about that ↳ Long-term studies confirming direct causation between oral health and dementia are limited ↳ What the evidence supports is strong biological association and plausibility ↳ But association this consistent still changes what I screen for I'm not suggesting dentists become cardiologists. I'm suggesting that when the same inflammatory signal keeps appearing alongside cardiovascular mortality and neurodegeneration, treating it as a separate dental problem is a choice our system is making for us. Not a scientific conclusion.