A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08800-x?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9bFmz-1nYDZzKXd5VBfMD_swTE789kpQFq2kl5MUOQrbQvduQ1dGb8UvtsCP_szj2qvxeMJ_XYbIQMqwvsoCJuXf_Cfg&_hsmi=354890839&utm_content=354890839&utm_source=hs_email How the shingles vaccine protects against dementia As vaccines become more political than ever, a new study shows another benefit: getting the shingles vaccine could protect against dementia. The paper, published yesterday in Nature, found that people who received the vaccine had a 20% lower risk of later developing dementia than those who didn’t. The shot had no other impact on other common health problems for older adults like heart disease, lung infections, or cancer. The researchers came to this finding through a natural experiment. They looked at 300,000 electronic health records collected randomly from people born between 1925 and 1942, comparing those with birthdays on either side of one fateful day in 1933 that made people eligible for the shot when it was introduced in 2006. “I was scared to put this up because it’s such a different approach from what’s generally done in epidemiology and medicine,” Pascal Geldsetzer told STAT’s Megan Molteni last fall, when she first wrote about the research as a preprint. “We’re looking at a causal effect. … There is something clearly going on here.” Chickenpox, shingles, Alzheimer’s? Evidence mounts for a viral cause of dementia The idea is gaining support as scientists learn more about how shingles harms the brain https://www.statnews.com/2024/10/18/dementia-alzheimers-evidence-for-viral-cause-grows/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-952cnDKUzRxY-I7uST0-gXLfu3TNhrKk4auIRy924XtctAM0sthpSmSU6-ikpyWtQmn4cuEckE9q-8Y6hhoEX1goll2Q&_hsmi=354890839&utm_content=354890839&utm_source=hs_email