A new US study has suggested vaccination against shingles could reduce dementia risk by 20 percent.
Shingles occurs when the varicella zoster virus reactivates some time after initial infection; and previous research has shown viral infections, particularly those that affect the nervous system, are associated with an increased risk of dementia.
Now the scientists at Stanford University, whose research was published in the journal Nature, examined a sample of 296,324 people aged 79 who were offered a shingles vaccination over a seven-year follow-up period.
People who had received the shingles vaccine were 20 percent less likely to receive a dementia diagnosis.
The research suggests ‘shingles vaccination could be a cost-effective way of slowing the rapid increase in dementia cases’, noted medicalnewstoday.com.
The effect of the vaccination on dementia risk differed markedly between the sexes, with a much greater reduction in new diagnoses of dementia in women than men.
This was seen despite the vaccination having similar effects on diagnoses of shingles and post-therpetic neuralgia – chronic nerve pain that can last up to several months after shingles – in both men and women.
Neurologist Dr Steve Allder (not involved in the study) commented: ‘The findings strengthen the case for encouraging shingles vaccination in older adults. If further research confirms the link between the vaccine and lower dementia risk, it could make vaccination an even more compelling public health strategy.
‘Given the high economic and social costs of dementia care, a relatively inexpensive vaccine could prove to be a cost-effective preventive measure.’
