A new study published in Nature has found that getting vaccinated against shingles can reduce the risk of developing dementia by up to 20%. The study analyzed data from over 280,000 people in Wales and compared those who received the shingles vaccine with those who did not. The researchers used a unique approach called a “natural experiment” to control for other factors that may affect dementia risk.
The study found that people who received the shingles vaccine had lower rates of dementia diagnoses than those who did not receive the vaccine, even after controlling for age and other potential confounding variables. The results suggest that preventing shingles infections through vaccination can have a protective effect on brain function years later.
Other research has suggested that shingles vaccines may reduce dementia risk, but this study provides some of the strongest evidence yet. Dr. Anupam Jena, a health economist and physician at Harvard, commented on the study saying “They do a pretty good job at looking at almost 200 medications that have been shown to be associated with elevated Alzheimer’s risk.”
The study also found that women experienced greater protection against dementia than men, and that people with autoimmune conditions and allergies had a bigger protective effect. The researchers suggest that one possible explanation for the reduced dementia risk is that shingles vaccines reduce neuroinflammation caused by reactivation of the virus.
While more research is needed to confirm these findings, this study provides promising evidence that vaccination against shingles may be an important tool in preventing or delaying the onset of dementia.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/health/shingles-vaccine-dementia.html