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by Richard Sima for the Washington Post
Vaccines don’t just protect us from infectious diseases or lessen their effects. Some are also associated with a reduced risk for dementia, research shows.
“They’ll protect against these really potentially severe infections, especially in older adults, and preventing that alone is huge,” said Avram Bukhbinder, a resident physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston who has conducted research on vaccines and dementia risk.
“There seems to also be some kind of added benefit and ultimately it just adds a more compelling reason” to get routine vaccines, he said.
Studies have found that many vaccines may be associated with a reduced risk of dementia — here are four of the most common ones with the strongest links.
The flu shot
Influenza and pneumonia — a potential complication of flu — are associated with five neurodegenerative diseases, including dementia and Parkinson’s disease, according to a 2023 study analyzing biobank data from over 400,000 people. Many studies have found that flu vaccination is associated with a lower risk of dementia years later.
The shingles vaccine
The shingles vaccine has the strongest evidence for reducing the risk of dementia, with multiple large-scale studies in the past two years corroborating the results of older studies.
The RSV vaccine
Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is a common respiratory virus that can cause mild, cold-like symptoms in most people, but may cause severe infections in children as well as adults ages 65 and older. A recent study tracking over 430,000 people found that the RSV vaccine (as well as the shingles vaccine) was associated with a reduced risk of dementia over 18 months compared with those who received the flu vaccine.
The Tdap vaccine
Several studies have reported that the vaccine against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (or whooping cough), or Tdap, is associated with a reduced risk of dementia.
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