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USC Study Links Shingles Vaccine to Slower Biological Aging in Older Adults

The analysis of a national cohort found slower molecular aging markers in vaccinated elders with causation unproven.

Overview

  • Researchers analyzed more than 3,800 participants aged 70 and older from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study.
  • Vaccinated individuals showed lower inflammation along with slower epigenetic and transcriptomic aging and lower composite biological aging scores.
  • Associations were observed even among participants vaccinated four or more years before blood sampling.
  • The study is observational and may be influenced by confounding, including the healthy-user effect, so it cannot establish cause and effect.
  • The findings, published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A, complement prior reviews linking shingles vaccination to lower dementia risk.