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Well this is interesting

As we age, the number of potential debilitating afflictions to which we become prone seems to increase exponentially.

One of the biggest causes of concern for many is the possibility of becoming affected by one of the various causes of dementia.

To lose one's mental faculties means a loss of independence and an earlier (than otherwise) death.

Clearly, anything that you can do to minimize the risk factors is worthwhile.

The prevailing wisdoms say that we should remain active, both physically and socially, if we want to reduce the chances of dementia but now there are some other risk factors that appear to play a significant role.

It's all about viruses.

To date, there have been many studies that prove a clear correlation between having the shingles vaccine and a reduced incidennce of Alzheimers disease.

However, new information is also suggests that stronger flu vaccines may also offer a similar advantage.

A paper published in the journal of Nerology provides all the detail but in essence it appears that stronger flu vaccines, when administered to those in their 70s, reduced the risk of Alzheimer's disease by an astonishing 40 percent.

The Shingles virus reportedly reduces that risk by by around 20 percent.

Of course it would be tempting to suggest that there's some incredible immunity being granted by the vaccines themselves but I suspect the reasons are a little simpler than that.

It has been accepted that chronic inflamation is a major causal factor for Alzeheimer's so anything which creates such inflamation in the neural tissues will predispose someone to contracting this affliction.

The role of the vaccines, in imparting protection, is an indirect one therefore. It is because those who are vaccinated are less likely to suffer from shingles or influenza that they are less likely to suffer inflamation of neural tissue and therefore are less likely to end up with Alzheimer's.

On this basis, being vaccinated for anything and everything you're likely to encounter that could produce a similar inflamatory response within the body is also going to reduce the risk.

For example, there is now strong evidence to suggest that contracting Covid-19 can precipitate or hasten the development of Alzheimer's in older, vulnerable people.

Wow, getting old is a minefield!

I guess that if you want to live a long and cognitively functional life you really should avoid getting serious infections, or even chronic low-grade ones, if at all possible. The data seems to suggest a dose-response pattern so each time you suffer a major or long-lasting infection which causes inflamation, your risk ratchets up a little.

Oh well, life is dangerous and nobody gets out alive so perhaps we should also remember not to worry about this sort of thing because stress itself can have a major negative effect on health and longevity

Damned if you do, damned if you don't!

Carpe Diem folks!

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