Yet another reason to get shingles vaccine: It might shield you from dementia
Shingles can be a brutal and painful experience that disrupts daily life—but there's good news: getting vaccinated is the best way to avoid the misery. And now, new research offers even more motivation to roll up your sleeve.
In a large-scale study published in Nature, researchers have uncovered an unexpected benefit of the shingles vaccine—it may reduce the risk of developing dementia.
The research, led by Stanford University’s School of Medicine, examined the health records of over 280,000 older adults in Wales, UK, aged 71 to 88. None of the participants had dementia when the shingles vaccination program began in 2013.
“We found that receiving the zoster vaccine lowered the chance of a new dementia diagnosis over a seven-year follow-up period by 3.5 percentage points, which equates to a 20% relative reduction,” the study authors noted. Interestingly, the protective effect was more pronounced in women than in men.
To understand the vaccine’s impact, researchers took advantage of a unique situation. Due to limited vaccine supply, eligibility in Wales was strictly age-based. People who turned 80 just before September 1, 2013, qualified for the shot, while those who turned 80 shortly after did not—despite being only weeks apart in age. This age cut-off allowed scientists to compare health outcomes between groups with similar demographics, one vaccinated and one not.
Over the next seven years, researchers tracked both groups and found a clear difference in dementia rates, reinforcing the link between the shingles vaccine and lower dementia risk.
But what exactly is shingles?
Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a painful condition marked by a blistering rash, usually appearing on one side of the body. It can cause intense discomfort, numbness, and sensitivity to touch. In more serious cases, complications can arise—such as postherpetic neuralgia, a chronic pain that lingers long after the rash fades.
Other symptoms include fatigue, fever, and headaches, which can disrupt daily life. In severe instances, shingles may even lead to vision or hearing loss and increase the risk of stroke.
The culprit behind shingles is the varicella-zoster virus—the same one responsible for chickenpox. After a childhood bout of chickenpox, the virus lies dormant in the nervous system and can reactivate later in life, especially as the immune system weakens with age.
With shingles posing such serious risks—and now evidence suggesting the vaccine could also help protect the brain—getting vaccinated seems like a win-win for long-term health.
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