A cure for Alzheimer ’s disease has been thegreat white whaleof medical inquiry , withnumerous treatmentsshowing promise in animals subsequently failing in clinical lead , while vaccineprogress is slow . Several studies evoke we might have had a fond rendering under our noses for 10 in the form of the influenza vaccinum .
charge per unit of Alzheimer ’s disease and other forms of dementedness are shooting upward as population age in gamey and middle - income country . Since progress like vaccination are one of the intellect older citizenry are living long enough to get dementia , it might be expected that being inoculate would be associated with a high Alzheimer ’s risk . However , two years agoa studyfound the reversal , that inoculation is associated with low rates of Alzheimer ’s in subsequent years .
Other small and medium - sized studieshave foundsomething similar , but the event is so surprising it has been tested on a much enceinte sample , and vindicated in theJournal of Alzheimer ’s Disease .
The study compared almost 936,000 hoi polloi over the age of 65 who had been vaccinated against the flu between 2009 and 2015 , with an indistinguishable number of the same demographic profile who had not . Four years later , 5.1 percent of the vaccinated grouping had been name with Alzheimer ’s , but the chassis was 8.5 percentage among the unvaccinated – vaccination was associate with 40 percent fewer cases .
However , in the absence of a confirmed range of mountains of causation , the possibility some other factor is creditworthy ca n’t be rule out . The crucial question is whether vaccination is actually protecting the brain , or a bedevil element is responsible . Might a pre - diagnosis symptom of Alzheimer ’s be underground to getting immunize , or being too disorganized to get to the medico ?
It would be hard to ethically justify a randomised ascendancy trial to influence this – those in the placebo branch would be at greater risk of influenza at least , and possibly Alzheimer ’s as well .
The author attempted to turn to this by match the patients in the two radical to be as similar as possible by demographics , consumption of other medications , and other conditions . aged authorProfessor Paul Schulzof the University of Texas retrieve this sufficient for confidence the inoculation is a cause of subsequent Alzheimer - devoid status , rather than a consequence of an ab initio clearer head .
“ Since there is evidence that several vaccines may protect from Alzheimer ’s disease , we are thinking that it is n’t a specific effect of the grippe vaccinum , " Schulz explained in astatement .
" Instead , we conceive that the immune system is complex , and some adjustment , such as pneumonia , may activate it in a mode that makes Alzheimer ’s disease worse . But other things that activate the immune system may do so in a unlike elbow room - one that protect from Alzheimer ’s disease . Clearly , we have more to learn about how theimmune systemworsens or improves result in this disease . "
reenforcement for this version comes from the fact some of the other vaccine that seem to be protective are ordinarily give much earlier in life . adult getting friend stab for lockjaw , diphtheria , and pertussis , for instance also look to have a lowered risk of infection of Alzheimer ’s , yet probably made the determination long before the effects of the disease might show .
The period over which the discipline was work allow the researcher to essay whether annual vaccination are more protective than a single snapshot at the start . Unsurprisingly , it seems they are , and the benefits wear upon off over the four - year menstruation if not refreshed .
Not enough time has elapsed to test whether COVID-19 vaccination is likewise protective .
