A University of Delaware researcher is exploring the links between a popular shingles vaccine and a reduced risk of stroke and dementia.
Around 1 million people get shingles each year. Beyond being painful, the disease can also lead to a greater risk of having a stroke or dementia.
"There are a number of pathways that you can get from a shingles infection and shingles reactivation, through to stroke, through to increased dementia," says Daniel Harris, an assistant professor of epidemiology at UD. "We know if someone has a stroke and they sustain some sort of brain damage, this can increase your risk of a very particular type of dementia called vascular dementia, but various other dementias as well.“
Harris is combing through more than 3 million records from nursing homes nationwide to see if by helping prevent shingles, the Shingrix vaccine can also reduce the risk of stroke and dementia.
“There have been a number of observational studies that have found an association between shingles vaccination and a reduced risk of dementia," Harris said. "These studies have a number of methodological weaknesses, though. So one of the key goals of this research is to improve upon those weaknesses.”
Meanwhile, a companion study is doing similar work with VA records.
“These are very large databases, so we're going to try to pool them together to improve the statistical efficiency even more to try to get some better evidence and more conclusive evidence as to the links between shingles, vaccination and dementia," Harris explained.
Harris estimates this research could take over a year to complete, but expects to see preliminary data in the coming months.
