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. 2 The shingles jab Shingrix has been linked to a reduced risk of dementia in a 'convincing' new study 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 the.