Young medical student creates dataset that indicates Influenza vaccines and Pneumococci vaccines have some measurable protective effect against Alzheimer’s disease.
Previous research has suggested vaccinations may have a protective factor against cognitive decline, but there have been no large, comprehensive studies focused on the influenza (flu) vaccine and Alzheimer's disease risk, specifically. To address this gap, Albert Amran, a medical student at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and team, investigated a large American health record dataset (n=9,066).
Amran and team found having one flu vaccination was associated with a lower prevalence of Alzheimer's (odds ratio 0.83, p<0.0001), and among vaccinated patients receiving the flu vaccine more frequently was associated with an even lower prevalence of Alzheimer's (odds ratio 0.87, p=0.0342). Thus, people that consistently got their annual flu shot had a lower risk of Alzheimer's. This translated to an almost 6% reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease for patients between the ages of 75-84 for 16 years.
The researchers found the protective association between the flu vaccine and the risk of Alzheimer's was strongest for those who received their first vaccine at a younger age—for example, the people who received their first documented flu shot at age 60 benefitted more than those who received their first flu shot at age 70.
"Our study suggests that regular use of a very accessible and relatively cheap intervention—the flu shot—may significantly reduce risk of Alzheimer's dementia," Amran said. "More research is needed to explore the biological mechanism for this effect—why and how it works in the body—which is important as we explore effective preventive therapies for Alzheimer's."
Pneumonia Vaccine May Reduce Alzheimer's Risk Later in Life
Repurposing of existing vaccines may be a promising approach to Alzheimer's disease prevention. Svetlana Ukraintseva, Ph.D., Associate Research Professor in the Biodemography of Aging Research Unit (BARU) at Duke University Social Science Research Institute, and team, investigated associations between pneumococcal vaccination, with and without an accompanying seasonal flu shot, and the risk of Alzheimer's disease among 5,146 participants age 65+ from the Cardiovascular Health Study. The team also took into account a known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's—the rs2075650 G allele in the TOMM40 gene.
The researchers found that pneumococcal vaccination between ages 65-75 reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's by 25-30% after adjusting for sex, race, birth cohort, education, smoking, and number of G alleles. The largest reduction in the risk of Alzheimer's (up to 40%) was observed among people vaccinated against pneumonia who were non-carriers of the risk gene. Total number of vaccinations against pneumonia and the flu between ages 65 and 75 was also associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's; however, the effect was not evident for the flu shot alone.
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That was interesting, and new for me.
And number wise I believe Alzheimer's will likely effect a much larger population in the US, over a much longer period then COVID will, a slow mental death vs a quicker suffocation check out.
Reality check, that half the population is smarter then 50% of the people and it's a constantly contested fact.
