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The shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia

economist.com

141–150 of 234 posts

Re: The shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia

#141

I had the vaccine, last year (but I’m 64). Hoowee, it made me sick , but only for a day (twice, as you get a booster, six months later). Had chickenpox (and measles, at the same time), when I was a kid. That was fun. My mother used to get recurring bouts of the shingles. Definitely not fun.

Yeah I got this last week and I felt like I got hit by a bus 12 hours later. The pharmacist claimed the second dose is worse. But getting the disease is no picnic at all. I had it in my 20s and it was like someone kept stabbing me in the eye, all day long for a week.

Re: The shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia

#142
post #125

HORSE PASTE!!! NO!!! NO MEDICINE HAS TWO USES!!! HORSE PASTE!!! Did I do it right? https://c19early.org/i Edit: I just learned all the dementia patients have undiagnosed shingles. Please ignore my comment now. :-|

I mean, you conformed to the norms and customs of horsepaste quackery, and in that sense you "did it right". However, the science here is a little off-point. Ivermectin had observable benefits in some localities during the pandemic. In all likelihood, everyone who walks into a hospital for any reason in those countries should be given Ivermectin, because they all have undiagnosed parasites.

Re: The shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia

#143
post #50
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says that one possible reason the vaccine protects against dementia is incidental protection from other diseases. Getting chickenpox as a kid might protect you against shingles, but maybe not against those other diseases.

No! The opposite thing is true. Getting chickenpox as a kid drastically increases your likelihood of getting shingles as an adult. The initial chickenpox infection is the mechanism by which you're set up for shingles: you get it, fight it back, and it remains dormant in your nerves. Shingles is not simply chickenpox; it's the secondary infection you get from a resurgent zoster outbreak based in your nerves. Don't get…

The original question had nothing to do with getting Chickenpox or Shingles.

Re: The shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia

#145

...and there may be damaging side effects while there are probably lots of accessible "natural" demetia remedies that you can do without having to resort to experimental drugs that may cause more problems and cost more

What is experimental about the Shingrix vaccine?

Re: The shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can get basically any medication or vaccination you want in the US as long as you can find a doctor to write the prescription. Is that not usually true in other countries?

There is a large industry in the US that specializes in catering to people that want medications, vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments that are outside the recommended standard of care that medical insurance or public health systems cover. You have to pay for these services directly but the market is competitive so the cost is quite reasonable. A doctor must sign off on these but that step is mostly performative out…

That's it.

Some countries are even more open. You can walk up to pharmacies in some countries and ask for most medications without a prescription. Up until 10-20 years ago you could walk into pharmacies in some countries and get abusable drugs, too, but that became enough of a problem that they cracked down on it.

The unique thing about the US is that we have access to almost everything first, and you can find a doctor willing to prescribe it to you if you look hard enough. In many other countries doctors don't want to stray far from the government prescribing guidelines. You may also not be allowed certain treatments unless your doctor can prove you meet the government requirements.

In the US, the enforcement is on the backend, if at all. There have been many cases of doctors getting the bright idea of turning their prescription pad into a money printer and writing prescriptions for scheduled medications to anyone willing to pay cash. Some of them make millions before the DEA catches up and goes after them. The smarter ones have moved into spaces where the enforcement brings less attention. Prescribing opioids is out, but I can't even turn on the radio without getting ads for doctors who will write me a prescription for testosterone to "get an edge in the gym".

Re: The shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia

#147
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I didn't wish for anything, I stated my calculus, and I'm pretty comfortable with it. Not sure what's unfair about my comment, let alone completely.

Wearing masks while outdoors is very important for combating air pollution alone. If you don't know what air pollution does to people, see https://youtu.be/KwTR1FX-NPA and optionally https://youtu.be/51AFRAwu8-Y.

Re: The shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia

#148

I'm in my 40s with genetic predisposition for Alzheimer's. Been seriously considering the past year or two paying out of pocket for Shingrix. I think it would be ~$500 total for two doses. Sure, I could wait 7 or 8 years until I qualify via insurance, but is that really worth the risk for what is an easily absorbed cost to me? Especially when I have a friend in her late 30s who just went through a very rough bout of…

Most people, especially those under the vaccination age of 50, with a weak immune system don't supplement a correct dose of basic immune boosting supplements like vitamin D3 (4-6 KIU), zinc (15-25 mg), selenium (200 mcg), and beta glucan, which typically is why they have a weak immune system in the first place. Safely boosting your immune system's baseline will protect you not just against opportunistic shingles but various other things too.

Re: The shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia

#149
post #64
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if infections do not cause more dementia, but are simply correlated with more. A weaker immune system may trigger many many things. And similar questions about obesity "causing" many diseases, sunburns causing skin cancer (although that sounds somewhat plausible) etc.

There isn't a causal mechanistic link between shingles and Alzheimers. We don't know why the Shingrix vaccine reduces incidence of Alzheimers. (You should very much want to avoid any chance of getting shingles, though; it's a nightmare.)

Probably other, possibly even unknown viruses that the vaccine has efficacy for.

Re: The shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia

#150

I got shingles in my early 50s and did not know there were antivirals that could help mitigate its effects. I now have postherpetic neuralgia and the pain is not quite enough to off myself but the fact that I have to live with this for the rest of my life weighs me down. It turns out that "pain management" is more art than science and almost all the pharma options out there come with significant risks and concerns. I…

The antiviral treatments for shingles are not very practical in that by the time you decide to visit the doctor it may already be too late for them to work.

This may be the case, I haven't researched it deeply enough because it was already a day late and a dollar short.

I just asked The Goog and it said the answer is effectively "possibly, but nuanced". So you may be right but not completely ;-).

I'd still suggest doing it as its likely to have a positive risk/reward ratio. But better still is to get the vaccine.

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