Studies in Wales suggest that chain vaccines associated with a fewer diagnoses of dementia in Wales

Researchers could provide the strongest evidence that the hatching vaccine is associated with a reduced risk of dementia.

Using medical records of over 280,000 older adults in Wales, scientists have found that those who received semi -gray vaccine were 20 percent less often develop dementia over the next seven years than those who did not receive the vaccine.

Arrangements, Published on Wednesday in Nature, develop other recent studies that have shown relationships between herpes virus infections and an increased risk of developing dementia.

The main author of Pascal GeldSetzer, From Stanford University, he said that the protective effects of the vaccine seemed “much larger” than those offered by the existing dementia, but further research was needed to determine whether the observed effects were really causal.

“If the Half -Fassy vaccine really prevents dementia or delay, it would be an extremely important discovery for clinical medicine, population health and the causes of dementia,” said GeldSetzer.

According to scientists, there are two potential mechanisms that can explain how the vertical vaccine can reduce the risk of dementia, and they It can even work in a tandem.

First of all, vaccinations reduce the reactivation of the dormant chickenpox virus, which, as shown, cause long-term cognitive disorders and brain pathology similar to what can be seen in Alzheimer's disease.

The chickenpox virus, a type of herpes virus, causes chickenpox and can remain in the body for years, later reactivating as shingles.

“There are more and more studies that show that viruses that are preferently focused on the nervous system and hibernate in your nervous system for most of life can be involved in the development of dementia.”

The second possible mechanism is that vaccination triggers a more widespread immune response.

Tissa Wijeratne, a neurologist from Rmit University and Western Health, who was not involved in research, said that the study was a “breakthrough discovery” in the field of brain health and prevention of diseases.

“It confirms the emerging understanding that infections-especially viruses such as chickenpox-moga, contribute to a long-term neurological decline.”

“Ingenious” natural experiment

While other studies analyzed the relationship between the half -vaccination and risk of dementia, it was difficult for scientists to impede the effects of the vaccine from other variables, such as diet and exercises, which could also affect the risk of dementia.

Randomized controlled tests are considered the golden standard of causal examination and can help eliminate these prejudices, but they are extremely expensive and demanding resources, especially for such long periods.

To get around, GeldSetzer and his colleagues He was based on a large, “natural” experiment that can help them answer the question in a similar way as a randomized controlled study.

In 2013, Wales developed a semi -gray vaccine for older adults. But the quirk in the implementation meant that those who were 79 years old September 1, 2013 qualified for the vaccine for at least a year, while those who were already 80 years old did not qualify for life.

“Only a weekly difference in this date of cutting off the date of birth means that you are moving from basically no one vaccinated to about half of the population,” said GeldSetzer.

Thanks to nationwide electronic medical documentation, Researchers could Look at the almost all Population of Wales born between September 1925 to September 1942 to see how the status of the vaccine influenced the risk of dementia.

They focused their analysis on people of loved ones on both sides of the vaccine eligibility threshold, so they were as close to the same age as possible.

Those who received half -lane vaccine were 3.5 percent less likely that they generally receive dementia, and 20 percent less often than those who were not vaccinated.

“It was a really striking discovery,” said Geldsetzer.

The research team also examined the impact of other variables, such as education levels and indicators of other common health conditions in both cohorts.

But they could not find any differences, except for the status of vaccination, which would explain the stunning decline in the diagnosis of dementia.

“This is a brilliant use of data on records and connections,” said Perminder Sachdev, a UNSW neuropsychiatrist, which focuses on dementia and was not involved in the study.

“This is an example of the strength of nationwide electronic entries and researchers' abilities to combine different sets of health data.”

Researchers also found similar results in the second population, using electronic medical documentation and death due to data from Dementia from England.

Studying the benefits of vaccines

Although the findings, if they are confirmed by further research, the suggested vaccination can be an effective tool for preventing or delaying dementia, also caused several questions.

At the beginning, the study showed that the risk of dementia has decreased much more in women than men.

This is not a discovery unique for this study; Other studies on vaccinations and the risk of dementia They also discovered that women seem to be more benefit from the vaccine than men.

“We know that the effects of vaccines are stronger in women, and the immune reactions to vaccines are different in men and women,” said Sachdev.

“We need to learn more, including (about) sex differences in the pathogenesis of dementia in general.”

Further research was also necessary to understand how vaccination can actually provide protection against dementia.

The research team looked specifically to the Herpes Oster oster live vaccine – known as becoming – which was widely used at the time.

CanadaCurrently Great Britain, USA and Australia They all recommend a different vaccine called Shinggrix, which uses different technologies and is much more effective in protecting against half -press.

“For some time there has been evidence that older people who generally receive vaccinations are less often developing dementia. This is the best proof to show it,” said Henry Bearded, Co-director of the Center for Healthy Brain Agging in UNSW and who were not involved in the study.

“Future research will determine whether the newer non-life vaccine shinggrix will provide the same benefit and whether vaccinations at a young age can be equally effective.”

Big US survey published last year He stated that Shingrix seemed to reduce the risk of dementia even more than becoming.

However, current research researchers believe that the lively character of the vaccine becomes becoming special benefits from lowering the risk of dementia and hope to finance further clinical trials examining them.

Although there is no proven prevention of dementia, doctors also recommend other widespread internship to reduce the risk. Be socially and cognitively active. And control high blood pressure, and for people with diabetes high blood sugar levels, both of which are associated with a cognitive decline.