GSK Plc’s shingles vaccine was associated with a longer delay in the onset of dementia than a competing vaccine, a finding that suggests superior protective powers against one of the world’s most threatening conditions.
People who received the Shingrix vaccine lived an average of 164 days longer without a diagnosis of dementia than those who received Merck & Co.’s Zostavax, according to one study. to study published Thursday on Nature Medicine Daily. The Merck vaccine was associated with a lower risk of dementia in one to study last year.
More than 55 million people around the world have dementia, the seventh leader cause of death among elderly people around the world. Although recently approved drugs like Eisai Co.’s Leqembi and Eli Lilly & Co.’s Kisunla may help slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease — one of the most common forms of dementia — there is no cure.
see more information: Changing your diet and lifestyle can slow Alzheimer’s
“The next question is how does vaccination exert this protective effect against dementia?” said Rob Howard, professor of elderly psychiatry at University College London who was not involved in the study. It could be by reducing virus levels or affecting some mechanism of the disease itself, he said.
The study, led by scientists at the University of Oxford, included data from more than 200,000 people in the US who received one of the shots in the last decade. About half received Zostavax between October 2014 and September 2017, while others received Shingrix between November 2017 and October 2020. Zostavax, a live vaccine, has been largely discontinued in the US in favor of Shingrix, a recombinant injection.
see more information: A blood test for Alzheimer’s disease is almost here
The researchers followed the individuals for six years after receiving the injections, comparing the prevalence of dementia diagnoses in both groups. The Shingrix shot delayed dementia longer in women than in men. A previous Zostavax study found little impact about dementia in men.
The effectiveness appears to be comparable to that seen in new Alzheimer’s disease drugs, said Andrew Doig, professor of biochemistry at the University of Manchester. More studies could show whether there is a benefit to giving the shingles vaccine at younger ages, he said.
The findings should prompt further research into exactly how protection might arise and should be confirmed in a large-scale, randomized clinical trial, the authors wrote.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
