A new study has shown that vaccination against shingles reduces 20% the risk of older people to develop dementia in the next seven years.
The vaccine against the shingles zone can also combat photo dementia: Archive
The vaccine against the shingles area, also called the Vaccine against the shingles, can fight dementia, shows in a research published on Wednesday, April 2, in Nature magazine, quoted by AP News. This study is trying to understand the many factors that influence the health of the brain as we grow older.
“It’s a very solid discovery”, Said the main researcher, Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer of Stanford University and”women seem to benefit more”, Because they present a higher risk of dementia, according to the researcher.
The study watched several people from Wales, who were about 80 when they received the first generation of the Vaccine against the Herpes shingles, more than a decade ago. Now, Americans 50 years old and over this age are urged to receive a newer vaccine, which has been shown to be more effective against the shingles than its predecessor.
The virus “It is a risk for dementia and now we have an intervention that can reduce the risk“, Dr. Maria Nagel from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, who studies the viruses in the nervous system.
With Alzheimer’s and other forms of growing dementia in an aging population, “The implications of the study are deep“Wrote Dr. Anupam Jena, a Harvard doctor and health economist, in a Nature comment.
What is the shingle area?
The shingles area, also called Herpes shingles, is a viral infection caused by the varicella-zosterian (VZV) virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox (vomited by the wind). After the healing of varicella, the virus remains in a latent state at the level of the nervous system. Sometimes the virus can reactivate later in life and can cause the shingle area.
Symptoms characteristic of shingles are:
– “painful eruption on the skin that usually appears as a single stripe on one side of the body, often on the trunk or face;
– vesicles that break and form shell;
– itching, tingling or burning sensation before the skin rash appears
– Other symptoms can be fever, headaches and fatigue ”, according to European portal of information about vaccination.
But the shingle area can lead to several complications. One of them is the persistent neuralgia that can take months or even years after the healing of the skin rash if it affects the eyes, the shingles can lead to eye infections and even to loss of vision.
Up to 20% of patients with Herpes Zoster suffer from painful nervous pain for months or even years after the rash disappears.
The connection between the shingles and dementia area
It is not clear exactly how Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia are formed. But certain viruses that slip inside the nervous system – especially the members of the herpes family, including the varicella virus – have long been suspected of adding to genetic and other factors that make people more vulnerable.
Last summer, the doctors at Bright and Women’s Hospital in Boston reported that an episode of Herpes Zoster could increase the risk of dementia by about 20%, according to AP. In part, this is because the virus can cause inflammation, harmful to organs, including the brain. It can also directly infect the blood vessels in the brain, causing clots and preventing blood circulation, said Dr. Maria Nagel at the University of Colorado, being a risk for stroke and dementia.
And more interesting, its laboratory has also found that the shingles can stimulate the formation of a sticky protein called amyloid, which is one of the characteristics of Alzheimer.
Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer of Stanford University has analyzed over 280,000 medical files and has found evidence that vaccination offers a certain protection against dementia. A next important step is testing if the current vaccine, Shingrix, also provides dementia protection, said Dr. Nagel. Another research group recently reported some evidence in this regard. Last month, the GSK vaccine manufacturer announced a collaboration with the United Kingdom authorities to follow the cognitive health of the elderly as they are vaccinated.
Vaccine recommendations against shingles
Shingrix is a unique vaccine, given in two doses a few months away. The CDC recommends it from the age of 50 for most people, but also for adults with certain conditions that weaken the immune system – including those who received the first generation vaccine years ago. Less than 40% of eligible Americans were vaccinated.
Side effects, including pain in the injection site, fever and flu -like pain, are common. The CDC warns people who are currently fighting with another virus, such as the flu or Covid-19, to wait for the vaccine against the shingles until they feel good.
The serum that immunizes against one of the most painful diseases is expected to reach Romania this spring. The announcement was made by Dr. Gindrovel Dumitra, the coordinator of the Vaccinology Group within the National Family Medicine Society.
