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Study strengthens link between shingles vaccine and lower dementia risk (med.stanford.edu)

submitted 2 weeks ago by tonytins@pawb.social to c/science@lemmy.world

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[-] dbtng@eviltoast.org 15 points 2 weeks ago

They don't mention it here, but there appears to be a similar broad positive effect from pretty much any vaccination. It seems that firing up the immune system is generally good for you, and the benefits spread to areas seemingly unrelated to the shot itself. This is relatively new info to me. I've never done the seasonal flu vaccine, but I'm going to start, for exactly this reason. Well, that and I'll be there anyway for covid shots ...

[-] DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone 10 points 2 weeks ago

Finally being immunocompromised and getting all the vaccinations available has a positive effect!

[-] bluGill@fedia.io 5 points 2 weeks ago

Cool, but I'm not clear why their next study is live vs placebo vs live vs the new style vaccine.

[-] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Hmm... I just got shingles last year. Does that have a similar effect as vaccination (since the vaccine is based on an attenuated live virus, and re-infection is practically unheard-of), or does it mean I now have an elevated risk?

[-] dbtng@eviltoast.org 7 points 2 weeks ago

Who cares? It's over and done. Too late.

You are not done with this disease. It can happen to you again.

The obvious conclusion is: Get the vax.

[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 2 points 2 weeks ago

Does it make sense to get the VAX if you already have the virus?

[-] KyuubiNoKitsune 6 points 2 weeks ago

It lives in your nerve stems and never goes away. It just waits until your immune system is low enough to spread again.

[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 2 points 2 weeks ago

Right, so would the vaccine help then?

[-] KyuubiNoKitsune 4 points 2 weeks ago

I wouldn't take my word for it, but yes. It's usually from having had chickenpox as a kid, the herpes zoster virus hides dormant in your nerve stems, where the immune system cannot get to them. I'd imagine any improvement to your immune response will help keep it in check.

[-] dbtng@eviltoast.org 2 points 2 weeks ago

This is the correct answer. No, we are not doctors. Yes, it is known that shingles does NOT go away and re-occurs in about 1-10 cases if left untreated. The treatment is a highly effective vaccine that if you are of age you should definitely get regardless of if you've had a shingles flareup previously.