The Economist‘s double-clickbait headline “A no-brainer for protecting your brain: One simple vaccination may dramatically reduce the risk of dementia” did its job. I learned something surprising.
Recent studies point out the numerous ways in which people are already reducing their risk of dementia. Many are lifestyle changes that you already know you should be making, such as eating healthily, exercising more and keeping your brain active. Others are medical interventions, such as treating hearing loss, depression, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. But getting people to adopt, and then stick to, healthy habits is hard. It does not help that, ideally, you should be working out more and boozing less for many years before your brain will thank you.
Tell me about it.
Yet there is one direct way to improve your chances of staying mentally sharp, and it involves almost no toil, tears or sweat. One of the most exciting scientific findings in recent years is that a course of the shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia by about 20%. For a simple intervention, that is a huge benefit. Exactly why this happens is still being debated. One theory is that the varicella-zoster virus, which causes both shingles and chickenpox, contributes to dementia by causing damage or inflammation to the nervous system even while it is supposedly dormant. Another is that the vaccination gives the immune system a firm kick up its B-cells, activating it against other bugs that might contribute to dementia.
My wife and I both got the shots a couple of years back to, well, reduce the risk of getting shingles, which is a horrible disease in its own right. I had no idea until this morning that it seems to help ward off an even worse disease.
Here in the States, the vaccine is recommended for those over 50 and is widely covered by insurance. Oddly, this is not the case across the Pond.
Too many public-health systems fail to offer the vaccine to more than just a small share of those who would benefit. Several studies have shown that, taking into account only the shingles cases prevented, it would be cost-effective to vaccinate almost everyone from about the age of 55. Yet many countries have rationed the vaccine to keep down the upfront costs. Britain, for instance, lowered the eligibility age from 70 to 65 in 2023, but has since been too slow to vaccinate those who were already in their late 60s. Among the 27 members of the European Union, just 17 recommend the vaccine at all, and several reserve it for the over-65s.
That makes little sense when considering only its efficacy against shingles, which afflicts 20-30% of unvaccinated people. It makes even less sense given its potential as a weapon in the fight against dementia.
Indeed. Of course, with universal health coverage, cost-benefit calculations have to be made. And the vaccine is more expensive than I would have guessed (it was free to me under my insurance).
A full two-dose course of Shingrix costs Britain’s health service £320 ($430) and federal immunisation programmes in America around $270: a bargain, given the potential savings in long-term care costs. As for individuals, even the retail cost (around £460 in Britain) is a small price to reduce by one-fifth the chances of having the world recede in every direction.
One would think.
@Jen
@sltaylor
