Blog and Announcements

By Kat Kostelecky, CMT, MAHCS

 

     Right from the start, around 1999, I helped the U.S. implement and build ambulatory Electronic Health Records (EHR). Electronic Health Records and other information sources soon helped us collect mass data that advances our knowledge of unintended side effects, good or bad. For example, very early EHR and post-marketing surveillance linked the first-generation RotaShield (tetravalent) rotavirus vaccine (RRV-TV) to a significantly increased risk of intussusception, a type of bowel blockage, leading to its withdrawal in 1999. Subsequently, rotavirus vaccines (RotaTeq and Rotarix) were developed, which carry a much smaller risk, observed in some studies but with conflicting results on significant increases in U.S. post-licensure surveillance. 

    Now, we are finding that vaccines like Shingrix offer older adults benefits beyond their primary targets, significantly reducing systemic inflammation and lowering risks for dementia, heart attacks, and strokes by preventing severe infections that trigger dangerous inflammatory responses, thereby protecting cardiovascular and cognitive health. Ask your family doctor! The Shingrix vaccine specifically shows promise in slowing dementia progression and preventing new diagnoses, likely by targeting the dormant virus and reducing neuroinflammation, highlighting how preventing infection also dampens broader immune system damage in aging bodies. 

How Vaccines Help Beyond Their Target

• Reduce Cardiovascular Events: Flu, RSV, and pneumococcal vaccines are linked to lower risks of heart failure, heart attack, and stroke, as preventing respiratory infections avoids vascular inflammation.

• Lower Overall Mortality: Vaccinated older adults experience reduced all-cause mortality, meaning they live longer, healthier lives.

• Combat Chronic Inflammation (Inflammaging): Aging involves chronic low-grade inflammation. Vaccines help by preventing acute infections that drastically spike inflammation, preventing the "damage" that lasts long after the illness. 

Shingrix and Dementia/Inflammation

• Dementia Risk Reduction: Studies show shingles vaccination (like Shingrix) can reduce the risk of developing dementia and potentially slow its progression, possibly by 20-28%.

• Mechanism: Preventing reactivation of the herpes zoster virus (which causes shingles) reduces overall inflammation, particularly neuroinflammation, protecting brain health and cognitive reserve.

• Therapeutic Potential: Research suggests the vaccine might even have benefits for those already diagnosed with dementia, reducing dementia-related deaths. 

Broader Impact on Aging

• Prevents Deconditioning: Avoiding severe infections prevents hospitalizations, which can cause deconditioning, delirium, and further cognitive decline in older adults, notes The Seattle Times.

• Immune System Support: By preventing major challenges, vaccines help the aging immune system (immunosenescence) stay more resilient, notes Cell Press.