Shingles Vaccine Shows Surprise Dementia Benefit.                                                                                                                            Stanford University researchers discover viral infections may be a cause of dementia.                                                                                                                                                                                              A major Welsh study found that older adults receiving the shingles vaccine were 20% less like to be diagnosed with dementia. In 2013,  the Welsh government started giving free shingles vaccines to people reaching 80 years of age by a certain date . Over 280 000 people were involved and scientists studied them over seven years, compared to other 80 year olds outside the cut-off date.                      Shingles virus is a by-product of Chicken Pox and never leaves the human body. Shingles often strikes someone later in life when they are stressed or their immune system is compromised

Stanford University became involved in this research and found that not only were vaccinated people  20% less like to get dementia but the shingles vaccinations slowed the rate of progress of dementia.      This was a startling discovery. For many years scientist and doctors  believed that dementia had two main causes:- 

A. Build up of protein on the brain’s circuitry which prevented messages/memory being processed and 

B. Vascular problems, where poor blood flow into the brain affected abilities such as thinking, speaking and memory recall.                                                                                       

The Stanford University researchers' study of the Welsh data led to them saying there may also be viral causes of dementia.                    While revealing there is very strong evidence that a vaccine can impede or even reduce dementia, the Stanford scientists emphasised the urgent need for detailed clinical trials to prove that infection, inflammation and the body’s failing immune system may be curable causes of dementia. 

References.                                                                                                                                Stanford Medicine. www med.stanford.edu 2/4/2025; www.racgp.org.au 8/4/2025.