Washington – A vaccine to combat dementia? It turns out that one could already exist: injections that prevent painful Herpes zoster (Solebrilla) They also seem to protect aging brains.
According to a new study, vaccination against Herpes Zóster reduced by 20% the risk of older adults to develop dementia in the next seven years.
Research, published on Wednesday in Nature magazine, is part of the growing information about how many factors influence brain health as we age and what we can do about it.
“It is a very solid finding,” said the principal researcher, Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer at Stanford University. And “women seem to benefit more,” which is important, since they have a higher risk of dementia.
The study followed inhabitants of Wales who were around 80 years old when they received the first vaccine against the herpes Zóster in the world, more than a decade ago. Now, Americans are urged 50 years or older to receive a newer vaccine, which has proven more effective against herpes zoster than their predecessor.
The new findings are another reason for people to consider vaccinatingSaid Dr. Maria Nagel, of the Anschutz Medical Campus from Colorado University, who studies the viruses that are infiltrated in the nervous system.
The virus “is a risk to dementia and now we have an intervention that can reduce this risk,” Nagel said.
With the increase in Alzheimer’s And other forms of dementia in an aging population, “the implications of the study are deep,” wrote Dr. Anupam Jena, Harvard’s doctor and health economist, in a comment published in Nature.
What is Herpes Zóster?
Any person who has ever had chickenpox, that is, almost all of those who were born before 1980, will house that virus for the rest of their life. It hides in the nerves and can manifest when the immune system weakens due to disease or age, causing painful sores similar to blisters, usually on the side of the body, which last weeks, which is known as Herpes Zóster.
Approximately one in three Americans will contract Herpes Zóster, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While most patients recover, the disease sometimes causes severe complications. If you infect an eye, you can cause loss of vision. Up to 20% of patients with herpes zóster suffer an unbearable nervous pain months or even years after the rash has disappeared.
What is the link between Herpes Zóster and Dementia?
It is not clear exactly how Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia are formed. But for a long time, it is suspected that certain viruses that infiltrate the nervous system, especially those that are part of the herpes family, including the varicella virus, are added to genetic and other factors that make people more vulnerable to people.
Last summer, doctors at Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston reported that An episode of Herpes Zóster could increase the risk of dementia of a person by approximately 20%.
This is due, in part, that this virus can cause inflammation, which is harmful to organs, including the brain. It can also directly infect the brain blood vessels, causing clots and preventing blood flow, said Nagel, a risk factor for stroke and dementia.
In an even more intriguing event, its laboratory also discovered that Herpes Zóster can stimulate the formation of a sticky protein called amyloid, which is one of the characteristics of Alzheimer’s.
Do vaccines against Herpes Zóster protect against dementia?
Adults who receive recommended vaccines usually have other healthy habits for the brain, such as exercising and carrying a good diet, which makes it difficult to prove the existence of an additional benefit.
Geldsetzer took advantage of “a natural experiment” in Wales, in which vaccinations against herpes zoster were applied to people with an age limit: anyone who had 80 years or more on September 1, 2013 was not eligible, but those who were still 79 years old could be vaccinated. Compare the elderly who met or did not comply with that limit by a narrow margin would imitate a research study that randomly assigned to similar people to be vaccinated or not.
The Geldsetzer team analyzed more than 280,000 medical records and found evidence that vaccination offered some protection against dementia. At that time, people received a first generation vaccine called Zostavax.
An important step is to test if the current vaccine, Shiningix, also offers dementia protection, Nagel said. Another research group recently reported the existence of certain evidence that it does. The GSK company, which manufactures the vaccine, announced last month a collaboration with the United Kingdom health authorities to trace the cognitive health of the elderly as they vaccinate.
Geldsetzer also hopes to study the previous vaccine more thoroughly to see if the type of immunization could make a difference.
What are the recommendations for vaccination against Herpes Zóster?
Shingrix is a unique vaccination, administered in two doses a few months apart. The CDC recommends it from the age of 50 for most people, but also for younger adults with certain conditions that weaken the immune system, including those who years ago received that first -generation vaccine against Herpes Zóster. Less than 40% of eligible Americans have vaccinated.
Side effects, such as pain in the place of injection and fever and discomfort similar to those of the flu, are common. CDC warn that, if people currently fight another virus, such as flu or COVID-19they must wait to receive the Herpes Zóster vaccine until they are well.
Although there is no proven prevention for dementia, doctors also recommend other common sense measures to reduce risk: stay socially and cognitively active and control high blood pressure. For people with diabetes, also control high blood sugar, since both factors are linked to cognitive deterioration.