India, May 28 -- A group of scientists studied how mouth bacteria might affect mental health in newly married couples. They focused on 268 couples where one partner had insomnia and signs of anxiety and depression, while the other started mentally healthy.
The study, led by independent researcher Reza Rastmanesh, followed couples who had been married for about six months. The researchers gathered data about the couples between February and October 2024. The participants took mental health tests, gave saliva samples, and had their oral bacteria analyzed.
At the beginning, the healthy partners had normal results in mental health tests. But after six months living with their unwell spouses, their test scores showed higher levels of depressio...