10 ms·
So if you had shingles in your youth then you are better protected against dementia?
by antaviana 2mo ago
So if you had shingles in your youth then you are better protected against dementia?
- dymk 2mo agoThe 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.
- tptacek 2mo agoNo! 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 chickenpox.
- Jolter 2mo agoWell, now… I can tell you second hand that catching chicken pox as an adult is no picnic either.
- NetMageSCW 2mo agoThe original question had nothing to do with getting Chickenpox or Shingles.
- saghm 2mo agoI got chickenpox and shingles as a kid. I was young enough to not remember the chicken pox (which I I think I got from one of my older siblings), and then in second grade I got the shingles, which I had never even heard of at the time. As a late millennial (of parents who were not antivax by any means) I imagine if I were even a few years younger I probably would have gotten the chickenpox vaccine and been able to skip both.
- MrDresden 2mo agoI just recently got a blood test to confirm if I ever had gotten chickenpox as a child (my mother didn't remember if I had). Sadly it came back positive for antibodies. I was really hoping I had somehow evaded it, and could get the vaccine as an adult.
- bitwize 2mo agoGetting chicken pox as a kid means you already have the H. zoster virus in your system, and when you get older as your immune system weakens, it may come out for a second go around, manifesting as shingles. Having had chicken pox as a kid is one of the reasons why I got my Shingrix as soon as I was able.
- DANmode 2mo ago> it may come out for a second go around or third. fifteenth. We don’t track reinfection well. We don’t really define infection well (especially in a context where you’re waiting 2-6 weeks for an appointment to get bloodwork ordered, by which point the blood is often irrelevant to the complaint 2-6 weeks prior). Not in practice, anyway.
- guilhas 2mo agoChickenpox vaccination does increase shingles cases, but mainly in young adults https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150811103555.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150811103555.h...
- tptacek 2mo agoNo, the opposite. If you've had shingles before, you're more likely to get it again later, not less.
- jagged-chisel 2mo agoThey asked about dimentia
- therein 2mo agoNot really, shingles is a lifetime infection. You'd be more likely.
- NetMageSCW 2mo agoRIF