By Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press
Washington (AP) – A vaccine to combat dementia? It turns out that there can already be one – shots that prevent the painful shingles also seem to protect the aging brain.
A new study has revealed that the vaccination of zone zones has reduced the risk of dementia of elderly adults by 20% in the next seven years.
Research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, is part of the growing understanding of the number of factors that influence the health of the brain as we age – and what we can do about it.
“This is a very robust conclusion,” said the principal researcher, Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer of the University of Stanford. And “women seem to benefit more”, important because they are more at risk of dementia.
The study followed the people of Wales who were about 80 years old when they received the vaccine of first generation shingles in the world over ten years ago. Now, Americans aged 50 and over are invited to get a new vaccine that has proven more effective against shingles than its predecessor.
The new discoveries add another reason for people to plan to roll up their sleeves, said Dr. Maria Nagel of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, which studies viruses that infiltrate the nervous system.
The virus “is a risk of dementia and now we have an intervention that can reduce the risk,” said Nagel.
With Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia increasing in an aging population, “the implications of the study are deep,” wrote Dr. Anupam Jena, doctor of Harvard and health economist, in a commentary on nature.
What is shingles?
Anyone who has already had chickenpox – almost all those born before 1980 – shelter this virus for the rest of his life. It hides in the nerves and can burst when the immune system weakens of disease or age, causing painful wounds and in the shape of blisters generally on one side of the body which lasts – what are called shingles.
According to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although most of them recover, it sometimes causes serious complications. If he infects an eye, it can lead to a loss of vision. Up to 20% of zona patients suffer from an atrocious nervous pain, even years after the disappearance of the eruption itself.
What is the link between shingles and dementia?
We don’t know exactly how Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. But some viruses that sneak inside the nervous system – in particular members of the herpes family, including the chickenpox virus – have long been suspected of adding to genetic factors and other factors that make people more vulnerable.
Last summer, the doctors of Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Boston reported that an episode of Zona could increase the risk of dementia of someone about 20%.
Partly, it is because this virus can cause inflammation, bad for organs, including the brain. It can also directly infect the blood vessels in the brain, causing clots and hindering blood circulation, said Nagel of Colorado, a risk for both cerebral vascular accidents and dementia.
More intriguing, his laboratory also discovered the zona can stimulate the formation of a sticky protein called amyloid which is one of the characteristics of Alzheimer.
Do zona vaccines protect against dementia?
Adults who are recommended vaccines tend to have other healthy habits of the brain, including exercise and good diet, which has made it difficult to prove an additional advantage.
Geldsetzer of Stanford took advantage of “natural experience” in Wales, which opened the vaccinations of shingles with an age limit: anyone from 80 years or older on September 1, 2013, was not eligible, but those which are still 79 could sneak. Comparison of the elderly who have just met or lack this blow.
The Geldsetzer team analyzed more than 280,000 medical records and found evidence that vaccination offered a certain protection against dementia. At the time, people received a first generation vaccine called Zostavax.
An important next step is to test if today’s vaccine, Shingrix, also offers dementia protection, said Nagel. Another research group recently reported evidence that this is the case. The GSK vaccine manufacturer announced a collaboration with British health officials last month to follow the cognitive health of seniors when they are vaccinated.
Geldsetzer also hopes to study this previous shooting more to see if the type of vaccine could make a difference.
What are the recommendations of the shingle vaccine?
Shingrix is online vaccination, given two doses a few months apart. The CDC recommends it from the age of 50 for most people but also for young adults suffering from certain immune female conditions – including those who have obtained this first generation zona vaccine. Less than 40% of eligible Americans were vaccinated.
Side effects, including pain in the injection site and fever and influenza pain, are common. The CDC warns if you are currently fighting another virus like the flu or COVID-19, to wait for a zona shot until you are good.
Although there is no proven prevention for dementia, doctors also recommend other stages of common sense to reduce risk. Stay socially and cognitively active. And control high high blood pressure and, for people with diabetes, high blood sugar, which are both linked to cognitive decline.
The Department of Health and Sciences of the Associated Press receives the support of the scientific and educational group of the media from the medical institute Howard Hughes and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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