A recent study found that the shingles vaccine could cut the risk of older adults developing dementia over the next seven years by 20%.
The research, which was published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, is part of a growing understanding about how many factors influence brain health as we age.
1st-generation shingles vaccine
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The study tracked people in Wales who were around 80 when receiving the world’s first-generation shingles vaccine over a decade ago.
Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer’s team analyzed more than 280,000 medical records and found evidence that vaccination did offer some protection against dementia. At the time, people received a vaccine called Zostavax.
An important next step is testing whether today’s vaccine, Shingrix, also offers dementia protection, Dr. Maria Nagel of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, said.
Another research group recently reported some evidence that it does. Vaccine manufacturer GSK last month announced a collaboration with UK health officials to track seniors’ cognitive health as they get vaccinated.
What's next:
Geldsetzer also hopes to further study that earlier shot to see if the type of vaccine might make a difference.
The new findings add another reason for people to consider rolling up their sleeves, said Nagel.
The virus "is a risk for dementia and now we have an intervention that can decrease the risk," Nagel said.
With Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia on the rise in an aging population, "the implications of the study are profound," Dr. Anupam Jena, a Harvard physician and health economist, wrote in a Nature commentary.
What they're saying:
"It’s a very robust finding," said lead researcher Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer of Stanford University. And "women seem to benefit more," important as they’re at higher risk of dementia.
FILE - This photo illustration shows a disposable syringe with hypodermic needle, SHINGLES written on a black board behind. (Photo Illustration by Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images)
What is shingles?
Anyone who has had chickenpox – nearly everybody born before 1980 – harbors that virus for the rest of their life. It hides in nerves and can break out when the immune system weakens from illness or age, causing painful, blister-like sores typically on one side of the body that last for weeks – what’s called shingles.
By the numbers:
About 1 in 3 Americans will get shingles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While most recover, it sometimes causes severe complications. If it infects an eye it can cause vision loss. Up to 20% of shingles patients suffer excruciating nerve pain months or even years after the rash itself is gone.
Americans 50 and older are urged to get vaccinated whether they’ve had shingles or not.
It is also recommended that people who are 19 years or older should get vaccinated if they have weakened immune systems due to disease or medication, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Possible link between shingles and dementia
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It’s not clear exactly how Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia form. But certain viruses that sneak inside the nervous system – especially members of the herpes family including the chickenpox virus -- have long been suspected of adding to genetic and other factors that make people more vulnerable.
Last summer, doctors at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital reported that an episode of shingles could raise someone’s risk of dementia by about 20%.
Partly, it’s because that virus can cause inflammation, bad for organs including the brain. It also can directly infect blood vessels in the brain, causing clots and impeding blood flow, said Colorado’s Nagel, a risk both for strokes and for dementia.
More intriguing, her lab also discovered shingles can spur the formation of a sticky protein called amyloid that is one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from The Associated Press and the Mayo Clinic. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
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