Shingles Shot Slashes Dementia Risk: New Evidence from a Landmark Medicare Study
A large-scale analysis of over 1.5 million US Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older has revealed that receiving the two-dose recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) is associated with a significantly reduced risk of developing new-onset dementia. The study, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, matched vaccinated individuals to unvaccinated controls and tracked outcomes over a mean follow-up of several years. The findings show a 33% lower incidence of dementia within the first three years following vaccination, with protective effects extending to both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia subtypes. This adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the varicella-zoster virus may play a role in neurodegenerative processes, and that RZV could serve a dual purpose in older adults: preventing shingles and potentially preserving cognitive health.
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