HAVING the shingles jab could slash your risk of dementia by 17 per cent, “convincing” new findings show.
The Shingrix vaccine “significantly” lowered the chance of being diagnosed with the debilitating brain disease in the six years after vaccination compared to the previously-used Zostavax shot.
The boost equates to five to nine months of life without dementia, University of Oxford researchers said.
Both men and women benefited from the new jab, but the effects were greater in women, scientists found.
John Todd, professor of precision medicine at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Medicine, said: “One possibility is that infection with the Herpes zoster virus (shingles) might increase the risk of dementia and, therefore, by inhibiting the virus the vaccine could reduce this risk.
“Alternatively, the vaccine also contains chemicals which might have separate beneficial effects on brain health.”
Shingles is a common condition that causes a painful rash and occurs most often as people get older.
It can sometimes lead to serious problems such as deafness, long-lasting pain, and blindness.
A jab to protect against it is available for free on the NHS to everyone aged 65 to 80.
Dr Maxime Taquet, academic clinical lecturer in the department of psychiatry at Oxford, who led the study on more than 20,000 people, said: “The size and nature of this study makes these findings convincing and should motivate further research.
“They support the hypothesis that vaccination against shingles might prevent dementia.
“If validated in clinical trials, these findings could have significant implications for older adults, health services and public health.”
She added that the team’s interpretation of the data is that the jab works to delay dementia rather than prevent it altogether, although more work is needed.
On the NHS, people are offered two doses of Shingrix when they turn 65, as long as their birthday was on or after September 1, 2023.
Those who turned 65 before this date are eligible for the shingles vaccine when they become 70, while all people aged 70 to 80 are also eligible.
People aged 50 and over with a severely weakened immune system are offered a vaccine too.
Evidence shows Shingrix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, can provide at least a decade of protection against shingles after the first jab.
Dementia isn’t an inevitable part of ageing. Finding new ways to reduce people’s risk of developing it is vital
Dr Sheona Scales
Shingrix, which replaced Zostavax in Britain in September 2023, was also compared with people who had received vaccines against other infections, including flu, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.
The results, published in the journal Nature Medicine, showed Shingrix was associated with a 17 per cent lower risk of dementia than Zostavax, and 23 to 27 per cent less than with the other jabs.
Women enjoyed 22 per cent more time lived without a diagnosis of dementia, versus 13 per cent for men.
Paul Harrison, a professor of psychiatry who supervised the study, said: “The findings are intriguing and encouraging.
“Anything that might reduce the risk of dementia is to be welcomed, given the large and increasing number of people affected by it.”
Dr Sheona Scales, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, added: “Dementia isn’t an inevitable part of ageing.
“It’s caused by diseases like Alzheimer’s, so finding new ways to reduce people’s risk of developing these diseases is vital.”
MAKING small changes to your lifestyle could slash your risk of developing dementia, research suggests.