Shingles vaccine linked to 24% lower dementia risk

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health·Health - Resources and discussion for everything health-relatedbyMidnight

Shingles vaccine linked to 24% lower dementia risk

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260823015013.htmOpen link View original on slrpnk.net

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bus_factor

lemmy.world

I'm always a little sceptical of correlations like this. What if choosing to get vaccinated just correlates with other lifestyle choices which help against dementia?

SaveTheTuaHawk reply

lemmy.ca

This is why these studies have to be done in non-shitholes that have universal health care.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08800-x

Due to a bureaucratic decision, people in UK got Shingrex, or not, born one week apart. People with vaccine, 20% less Alzheimer. But, the effect was only seen in woman.

terranoid reply

lemmy.cafe

That's why you have to read it further than the headline. They would tell you if it's just correlation or if they proved causation.

In this case, they state down at the end that this does not prove causation and also that they received funding from glaxo smith kline

The authors reported receiving funding from GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of Shingrix.

SaveTheTuaHawk reply

lemmy.ca

It's not just Shingrex. All vaccines show protection. Viral infections produce a lot of reactive oxygen from the innate immune response. In younger people, that ROS is cleared by mitochondria but as people age, mitochondria get less efficient. So less infections = less chance of neuronal damage.

But from a UK study, only women saw the protective effect of shingrex.

Thorry

feddit.org

They only give the shingles vaccine to 50+ around where I live. I only found out later you actually could get a vaccine if you paid for it and did a bit of work to get into the process.

I got the shingles while recovering from an operation to remove a growth from my intestines. (Lab results later said not cancerous after luckily, otherwise I'd probably be dead right now.) I was 40 at the time and it was the worst pain I'd ever experienced. I got it in my face and it left scars. There was a good chance I would lose sight in at least one eye. But luckily I got away with it, the eyesight is a bit degraded, but still perfectly fine. However even tho it's now years and years ago and hasn't resurfaced, I still feel it all the time. Usually it's just a bit of pressure or maybe an itch, but sometimes it's tingles or an intense pain. I've gotten used to it, but it is still annoying.

If you have the option to get the shingles vaccine, do so! It's a terrible thing to go through.