A new investigation has revealed that depression, anxiety and insomnia can be transmitted from one spouse to another through the oral microbiome – which is transferred during the intimate contact, such as the kiss.
It is of general knowledge that our microbioma oral – the bacteria that make up our mouth – can affect our physical and mental health.
There are studies that associate an unbalanced oral microbiome with disorder disorders of autism, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, anxiety and depression.
A new study, recently in Exploratory Research and Hypothesis in Medicinesought to see if the oral microbiome can be transmitted among people through the kiss and if this transmission can affect mental health.
As details, the research focused on 1740 couples. Of these, 268 had married in the last six months. They were asked not to alter their eating habits, oral hygiene practices or exercise routines.
On the first and 180th day of the study, the composition of the oral microbiome and the levels of Salivar cortisol (stress hormone) of all participants were measured.
The researchers found that, After six months of marriage with a partner with insomnia and tendency to have depression and anxiety, the healthy spouses presented increases in levels of depression and anxietyand also worse sleep quality.
As changes were more pronounced in women.
With insomnia… much worse
Salivary cortisol levels were significantly higher in the spouses with insomnia.
In turn, the researchers observed that the bacteria composition found in the mouth of healthy spouses changed considerably, becoming increasingly similar to that of its affected partners.
“The transfer of oral microbiota among individuals in close contact, such as couples in the present study, can mediate depression and anxiety,” the investigators concluded by.
“We found that Changes in oral microbiota composition are associated with changes in insomnia severity, salivary cortisol levels and depression and anxiety scores. Our findings are in accordance with previous studies on salivary cortisol levels, as well as levels of depression and anxiety, ”they add.
Researchers admit that “as this study is merely associative is necessary further research to determine whether this association is causal.” In addition, due to financial restrictions, samples of bacteria were collected only from tonsils and pharynx instead of the entire oral microbiome.
