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yesterday

Shingles Vaccine Linked to Lower Dementia Risk and Deaths in New Cell Study

Leveraging a Wales birth-date eligibility cutoff, researchers report observational associations that are spurring plans for randomized trials.

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The shingles vaccine was not designed or optimized to prevent dementia, so the incidental finding that it might lower dementia risk has researchers cautiously optimistic. (Medical concept / Adobe Stock)

Overview

  • Analyzing SAIL health records for more than 300,000 Welsh adults, the study associated shingles vaccination with a 20% lower dementia incidence over seven years.
  • Eligibility hinged on a strict NHS Wales birth-date cutoff (Sept. 2, 1933), creating a natural experiment that strengthens causal interpretation within an observational design.
  • Vaccination was tied to a 3.1 percentage-point reduction in new mild cognitive impairment diagnoses and a 29.5% lower likelihood of dementia listed as the underlying cause of death over nine years.
  • The apparent protective associations were stronger in women than in men, according to the analysis.
  • Researchers evaluated the older live Zostavax vaccine, not today’s Shingrix, and they caution that causation is unproven and are seeking funding for replication and randomized trials.