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Shingles Vaccine (Shingrix) Linked to Lower Dementia Risk, Study Finds

A new study has found that U.S. adults over the age of 65 who received both doses of the recombinant zoster shingles vaccine (Shingrix) had a lower rate of dementia than others in the same age group. It was also linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

[Read: Shingles on the Face: Symptoms, Treatments and Causes]

Why This Study Matters

The large-scale study is one of the first to evaluate the two-dose recombinant zoster vaccine (Shingrix) in a large sample group. Previous research has shown that dementia risk is lower with the live-attenuated zoster vaccine (Zostavax), which is no longer available in the U.S.

Shingles is a virus that causes chickenpox, known as varicella zoster, that can lie dormant in a person’s immune system for decades before resurfacing as painful, itchy rashes. While shingles can occur in anyone who has previously had the chickenpox at any time, it is most common in those above the age of 50.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the Shingrix vaccine in two doses for adults aged 50 and older to prevent shingles and related complications. It is also recommended for adults with weakened immune systems.

Published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the study analyzed the incidence rate of dementia in 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries. The subjects were broken into two groups: 502,845 people who received both doses of the recombinant zoster vaccine, and 1,005,690 people who were unvaccinated.

Following up on the group in three years or less, those who had received the recombinant shingles vaccine had a 33% less risk of any type of dementia, a 28% less risk of Alzheimer’s disease and a 33% less risk of vascular dementia.

The findings support growing evidence that the herpes zoster vaccine is associated with a lower risk of new-onset dementia.

[SEE: The Connection Between Hearing Loss and Dementia]

Limitations of the Study and Next Steps in Dementia Research

The authors concede that the study has numerous limitations, including the possibility that dementia diagnoses could have been misclassified and the outcomes could have been inadvertently influenced by variables, such as each person’s highest level of education, marital status or physical activity, which couldn’t be measured within the study.

Despite the accumulating real-world evidence, further work is needed to evaluate if there is a causal association between recombinant zoster vaccine and reduced risk of dementia.

According to the study, dementia rates are projected to increase from 50 million people to 152 million people worldwide by 2050. Globally, 8.1% of adults aged 65 and older already have dementia.

Though there aren’t any known foolproof ways to prevent dementia, there are established strategies that can help reduce your risk, including staying physically active, mentally stimulated, nurturing social connections and managing stress.

[READ: Vaccinations and Immunizations Recommended for Adults]

What This Study Means for You: Should You Get Vaccinated?

The results of this study add weight to the already strong case for receiving the shingles vaccine. While the primary goal of the vaccine is to prevent shingles — a painful, often debilitating condition — the association with reduced dementia risk provides a powerful potential secondary benefit for older adults.

— Consult Your Doctor: If you are over the age of 50, the CDC recommends the two-dose Shingrix vaccine to prevent shingles. Discuss your eligibility and vaccination schedule with your primary care physician.

— Focus on Proven Risk Reduction: While the dementia link is promising, it is not yet proven causation. Continue to prioritize established dementia prevention strategies, including maintaining a brain-healthy diet, exercising regularly and staying socially and mentally active.

— Ensure Both Doses: The study specifically focused on individuals who received both doses of the recombinant zoster vaccine. Completion of the full two-dose series, typically given 2 to 6 months apart, is essential for optimal protection.

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Shingles Vaccine (Shingrix) Linked to Lower Dementia Risk, Study Finds originally appeared on usnews.com

Trump revisits disputed claims about election security and declassifies documents

▶ Watch Video: Watch: Trump speaks on elections, alleges Chinese access to voter data | Special Report In a primetime address Thursday evening, President Trump alleged the U.S. election system falls "catastrophically short," revisiting a topic that has drawn his attention for years — and making claims that election experts have heavily disputed.The White House released a trove of newly declassified documents on election security in conjunction with the address. In a briefing with reporters several hours before the speech, a White House official acknowledged that none of the newly released information would allege that any votes were switched or voting machines hacked. The president and his allies have long insisted otherwise, falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen from him due to widespread fraud.Mr. Trump used part of his speech to push lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act, a suite of controversial proposed election law changes, including requirements to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. That legislation remains stuck in limbo, with some Senate Republicans skeptical. Mr. Trump's allies in the GOP caucus largely praised the speech and echoed his calls to pass the SAVE America Act, while Democrats blasted it and accused Mr. Trump of seeking to undermine elections.Shortly after the speech wrapped up, David Becker, executive director for the Center for Election Innovation and Research, argued that little groundbreaking information was revealed."This administration has been in total control of the federal government for 18 months. They've redirected untold taxpayer resources to try to uncover evidence of massive voter fraud," he said. "And at the end of that 18 months, all we got is more rehashed, debunked conspiracy theories, many of which we've known about before and already knew didn't affect our elections."Trump and ChinaOne of the more notable allegations leveled by Mr. Trump was that the Chinese government had acquired 220 million U.S. voter registration files from 2020 to 2023 in what the president called "the largest compromise of election data in history." The information, the president said, included voters' names, addresses, phone numbers and party affiliations.The president alleged that intelligence agencies "kept the information secret and hidden," never disclosing China's access to U.S. voter registration data to him or to Congress.However, voter registration data is publicly available. Some states post the information online, and many others allow people to freely request it, though some personal information on voters is kept confidential. It's also not clear how China intended to use the data, and having access to voter rolls does not necessarily allow people to commit fraud."It sounds bad when you hear about it," said Becker, who is a CBS News election law contributor. "The reality is: voter files in the United States are public."A 2020 intelligence report declassified almost four years ago found China had obtained multiple states' voter data "to conduct public opinion analysis on the 2020 US general election."There remains no evidence that China — or any other country — tried to manipulate the results of the 2020 election by interfering with voting processes. The U.S. intelligence community assessed in March 2021 that no foreign actor "attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process," including the casting of ballots, the vote-counting process or voter registrations.Mr. Trump also alleged that China "fought like hell" to prevent him from winning in 2020: "The Chinese government wanted [the] U.S. president to lose the next election, and the reason they wanted me to lose is because they knew I was wise to them."There is some debate about China's role in the 2020 race, which the documents released Thursday reflect. The National Intelligence Council publicly assessed shortly after the election that China stayed on the sidelines, deciding neither a Trump nor Biden presidency would be "advantageous enough for China to risk getting caught meddling." But that assessment notes a "minority view" from one intelligence official that China did try to denigrate Mr. Trump, including through social media posts and official statements.The National Intelligence Council's assessment did find that Russia tried to influence the 2020 election by promoting the Trump campaign, while Iran tried to undercut the Trump campaign. Still, neither country tried to interfere with voting systems.China, for its part, has strongly denied any interest in interfering in U.S. elections. The Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., told CBS News on Thursday it has "all along adhered to the principle of non-interference in other's internal affairs."Dead and non-citizen votersMr. Trump also pointed to findings by the federal government that "hundreds of thousands of non-citizens and dead people are listed and active on the voter rolls."In particular, he pointed to a Department of Homeland Security review of state voter rolls and public records that determined that more than 250,000 non-citizens are registered to vote in federal elections across four states — California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada.Becker questioned those findings, arguing "we should take that with a great big grain of salt.""That's based on using commercial data that cannot be used," Becker said during a CBS News special report. "It's going to create a ton of false positives. I guarantee you, that data includes a ton of people, maybe even a majority of people, who are absolutely eligible voters, and states would probably be breaking the law if they remove those voters from the rolls."It's illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, and documented cases are extremely rare. The Brennan Center for Justice looked at 42 jurisdictions where a combined 23.5 million people voted in 2016, and found just 30 instances of suspected non-citizen voting.State-level results are similar. A 2024 audit in Georgia found 20 of the state's 8.2 million registered voters were not citizens, and the same year, Ohio found 597 non-citizen registered voters in 2024 out of its more than 8 million voters, including 138 who cast ballots. Last year, Texas found 2,724 "potential non-citizens" among its over 18 million voters, and Louisiana found 390 non-citizens out of just under 3 million voters, 79 of whom voted in at least one election.Proven cases of voting by dead people are also rare. Georgia officials found just four cases of votes cast in the names of dead people in the 2020 election, and Arizona officials found one. Michigan lawmakers found two cases in the county that houses Detroit, but one of them was a clerical error and the other involved a person who died after mailing in her ballot.The Justice Department has sued dozens of states for access to their voting records, saying it wants to screen the records for compliance with federal laws that require states to maintain clean voter rolls and check for non-citizen voters. To date, the federal government has lost in district courts 11 times and has not scored any legal victories in its fight for voter rolls.The White House also declassified files about an FBI investigation into a Michigan voter registration drive that state and federal law enforcement agents believed included fraudulent registrations. The probe was closed, drawing pushback from investigators.Mr. Trump called the target of the probe a "Democrat get-out-the-vote organization," and argued the "Biden Department of Justice slow-walked the investigation and killed it."Voting machinesThe president alleged voting machines and ballot-counting systems are "extremely exposed to attack," calling them "vulnerable" and "easily compromised." He later pointed to CIA intelligence about plots to use voting machines for fraud in Venezuela.However, the Venezuela-related intelligence released by the White House focuses on election systems made by the company Smartmatic — and that company's technology is not used in the United States, aside from in Los Angeles County.In general, experts say voting machines are extremely difficult to compromise: They are closely monitored, they aren't connected to the internet, and in almost every state, they are backed up by paper ballots or receipts that can be audited to check the results by hand."They're under lock and key until they are publicly tested to make sure they haven't been tampered with," Becker said. "And then they are used and we still don't trust them. We have those paper ballots."For example, every 2020 general election ballot in Georgia was tallied three times: once by machines during the original counting process, once in an audit that involved a hand recount in every county statewide, and once in a machine recount requested by the Trump campaign. All three counts affirmed that former President Joe Biden defeated Mr. Trump.Elsewhere in Thursday's speech, Mr. Trump pointed to newly declassified intelligence that U.S. adversaries like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have the ability to compromise U.S. election infrastructure.The document that Mr. Trump appeared to reference — a National Intelligence Council memo from January 2020 — does state that U.S. adversaries have the "capability" to compromise election infrastructure. It points to voter registration databases as one possible vulnerability. But it later explains that systems used to tabulate votes or display results would be "difficult to manipulate on a wide enough scale to compromise election results." The memo said exploiting the systems often requires "physical proximity" and would likely be caught by audits.The memo also warns that foreign adversaries could make "wholly fabricated" or "exaggerated" claims about their ability to manipulate voting systems, in an effort to "undermine public confidence."
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