STUDY: Shingles Vax May Protect Against Dementia

The Associated Press reports:

A vaccine to fight dementia? It turns out there may already be one – shots that prevent painful shingles also appear to protect aging brains. A new study found shingles vaccination cut older adults’ risk of developing dementia over the next seven years by 20%.

The research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, is part of growing understanding about how many factors influence brain health as we age – and what we can do about it. “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.

It’s not clear exactly how Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia form. But certain viruses that sneak inside the nervous system –

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