If you just read the headlines, you probably saw studies suggest that getting Shingrix or the Zostavax vaccines not only protects against shingles but might also offer some protection against debilitating Alzheimer’s/dementia in older adults. We wondered too so we decided to look into it, we had too. How many people in your family are impacted by Alzheimer’s or dementia?
While it is too early to definitively say, this has the potential to be a game changer for millions of Americans, especially for Black Americans who have the highest incidence of Alzheimer’s and dementia in the U.S., according to the Alzheimer’s Foundation.
This year, several studies were published on the ability to reduce risks for dementia in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA). Further research continues to see if the vaccines stop or delay the development of dementia and for how long.
Both vaccines have successfully protected against the varicella zoster virus and the excruciating shingles rash that comes with it. However, neither was developed to specifically prevent or delay dementia.
What is Shingles and Why Get Vaccinated?
The source of the Herpes Zoster virus that causes shingles is the same one that causes chickenpox. Once a person gets chickenpox, usually as a child, the virus remains dormant in the body for years. And while not everyone who has had chickenpox gets shingles in later years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that nearly a million people get the painful shingles rash yearly.
Shingles is known for its symptoms, which include blisters and burning, itchy rashes that appear on one side of the body and face, headaches, tiredness, high fevers, and nausea. While the blisters can take a month or longer to heal, the pain can last months longer.
Linda Marcus, 67, from Detroit, says she had a severe bout of shingles before she could get vaccinated. “It was awful. The blisters were so bad that I had a hard time wearing clothes,” Marcus said. “I kick myself for waiting.” When her doctor told her that she could get shingles again, she got vaccinated and was so glad. “And now I see the news that it may protect me from Alzheimer’s, I am really grateful,” Linda says she lost several family members to dementia.
Primary care physicians recommend that people over 50 get the vaccine to protect against the virus. The CDC’s current vaccine recommendation is Shingrix, a two-dose vaccine that has been shown to be more effective in prevention than Zostavax, an older medication. Recent studies also show that Shingrix may improve the potential benefits and risk reduction around dementia, while both vaccines show promise.
One of the recent studies, from Stanford, published in the journal JAMA. It found that patients who were given Zostavax were less likely to be diagnosed with dementia in the next 7.4 years than those who were not. Pascal Geldsetzer, a Stanford University epidemiologist and one of the study’s authors, said the “study collected data on over 18,400 people in their 70s and 80s.”
One significant change in shingles prevention in this country is that the CDC now recommends the Shingrix vaccine for people 50 and older. Shingrix is thought to boost the body’s preventative immune response. Physicians are recommending that their patients now get the newer two-dose Shingrix, even if they had the single-dose Zostavax several years ago. Most health insurances, including Medicare, will pay for the two-dose Shingrix vaccine.
And while most of the significant studies were done on patients who got Zostavax, another study suggests that Shingrix might have even stronger protective effects. Another recent study was done on 103,000 people in the U.S. The results were published in 2024 in the journal Nature Medicine. According to the study, in the six years following vaccination, people who got the Shingrix shot were 18 percent less likely to get a dementia diagnosis than people who got Zostavax. The maker of Shingrix, GSK, plans to conduct more studies to study the link between their vaccine and dementia risk.
All of the published studies agree that they have not yet followed people long enough to determine how long the effects will last. While researchers continue to explore the short—and long-term benefits of these vaccines in preventing dementia, healthcare providers who see patients on a daily basis say that they are the best tool we have for preventing shingles now.
So, talk to your doctor about getting your shingles vaccinations as soon as possible.
Resources
Zostavax
Shingrix
Alzheimer’s Foundation.
Journal of the American Medical Association
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
journal JAMA
Nature Medicine.
