The shingles vaccine is being studied as a promising way to stave off dementia! It cuts the risk of developing dementia by 20% and slows cognitive decline in those already diagnosed.
Very exciting! But more work needs to be done.
First, if you are 50 or over, get your shingles vaccine, because shingles is horribly painful and you don’t want it. Now you also have the bonus of potentially staving off dementia.
Things to know:
This research was done using the vaccine that the US no longer uses for shingles. We now use a more effective vaccine against shingles. The theory is that the vaccine we use now could be even more effective at reducing dementia risk as well. So now, NO excuses! Ask your doctor today about the shingles vaccine.
More research is needed so that researchers can run more randomized testing. So contact your congress person and urge them to fund dementia research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to pass bills like the Accelerating Access to Dementia and Alzheimer’s Provider Training (AADAPT) Act or the Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention (ASAP) Act. Find your congress person here: https://www.congress.gov/contact-us
Support Care Answered and Answers4Care in the End Alzheimer’s Walk this October. Support us as we support families, clients, and you in ending Alzheimer’s in our lifetime!
https://act.alz.org/site/TR?team_id=1067670&pg=team&fr_id=19803