How a childhood virus shingles can contribute to dementia later and what you can do

One of the largest studies ever conducted on the link between the shingles vaccine and brain health offers insight into how the disease increases deme...

One of the largest studies ever conducted on the link between the shingles vaccine and brain health offers insight into how the disease increases dementia risk.

People who experienced multiple episodes of shingles had a higher risk of dementia for several years after the second outbreak, the study found, compared with those who had it only once.

The findings, published recently in the journal Nature Medicine, provide additional evidence for why getting vaccinated for shingles could help protect the brain.

Shingles stems from the varicella-zoster virus, which causes childhood chicken pox and hibernates in the nervous system. As people age, the virus reactivates but often is "beaten back down by the immune system,” said Pascal Geldsetzer, a professor of medicine at Stanford University and one of the study’s authors. But sometimes, he said, "it reactivates fully” and then you get shingles’ telltale symptoms, the burning, tingling, painful blisters and rash.

Both versions of the vaccine - one with a version of the live virus and one without - reduce those reactivations and the risk of dementia, the study found.