Can a shingles shot help prevent memory problems?
595. The Effect of Herpes Zoster Vaccination on New Diagnoses of Dementia: A Quasi-randomized Study in Australia
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists looked at people who were just barely old enough to get a free shingles shot and compared them to people who were just barely too old. Those who got the shot were less likely to be diagnosed with dementia later.
Surprising Findings
The shingles vaccine was linked to reduced dementia—but not to any other chronic diseases or health behaviors.
Most people assume if a vaccine improves one health outcome, it’s because people are just generally healthier. But here, diabetes, heart disease, flu shots, and cancer screenings didn’t change—only dementia dropped.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re 65–79, get the shingles vaccine—even if you’ve had shingles before. This study suggests it may reduce your dementia risk.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists looked at people who were just barely old enough to get a free shingles shot and compared them to people who were just barely too old. Those who got the shot were less likely to be diagnosed with dementia later.
Surprising Findings
The shingles vaccine was linked to reduced dementia—but not to any other chronic diseases or health behaviors.
Most people assume if a vaccine improves one health outcome, it’s because people are just generally healthier. But here, diabetes, heart disease, flu shots, and cancer screenings didn’t change—only dementia dropped.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re 65–79, get the shingles vaccine—even if you’ve had shingles before. This study suggests it may reduce your dementia risk.
Publication
Journal
Open Forum Infectious Diseases
Year
2025
Authors
Michael Pomirchy, Christian Bommer, Pascal Geldsetzer
Related Content
Claims (10)
Getting the shingles vaccine didn’t make people go to the doctor more for other things or change how often they were diagnosed with common long-term illnesses like diabetes or high blood pressure—so if people who got the vaccine also had less dementia, it’s probably because the vaccine itself helped, not because they got better overall care.
Before people got the shingles vaccine, those just barely eligible for it were just like those just barely ineligible — same health habits, same chronic conditions — so researchers could trust that any differences later were likely due to the vaccine, not pre-existing differences.
People born right after November 2, 1936, got a free shingles shot when they turned 60, and over the next 7.5 years, fewer of them got dementia than people born just before that date—suggesting the vaccine might help protect the brain.
People who were eligible for the shingles vaccine seem to be less likely to get diagnosed with dementia later on—and this link holds up no matter how researchers tweaked their study rules, which makes it look pretty real.
In Australia, when people turned the right age to get a free shingles shot, way more of them got it than people who were just one year younger and didn’t qualify yet—so making the vaccine free at that age really worked to get more people vaccinated.