BCG vaccine can be cheaply purchased on IndiaMART. After reading about the different methods of administration I chose oral administration in an enteric capsule. Oral administration in liquid form is less effective and risks cervical adentitis. It requires much higher doses than subdermal injection, but the cost difference is small. Onco bcg is normally used for treatment of bladder cancer. It is the same strain (tice) as is used in America for vaccination but in a 40mg dose instead of the 1mg vaccine vials. The bcg injection technique is different to any other medicine and even experienced medical professionals get it wrong which can cause a painful swelling of the lymph nodes.
Remove the aluminium seal from the vial and pull out the rubber cork while wearing an n95 mask. Use a cone of non stick baking paper to funnel the freeze dried bacteria from the vial to an enteric capsule. Take the capsule first thing in the morning and don’t eat for three hours.
Some people get diarrhoea from oral bcg, but I only experienced a very mild laxative effect.
No one has a clue how many doses are optimal, but at around $10 usd per vial there is no need to economise.
Seems interesting. I was vaccinated as an infant. Would revaccination be warranted to get any better effect? You seem to have done quite some research on this.
Herpes Zoster (shingles) vaccine seems very promising in reducing rates of dementia
Price can be about $400 for Shingrix, a newer, very effective vaccine. So if you’ve taken the older vaccine, or it’s been 10 yrs since you last took it, might be worth looking over. I haven’t done much research on this but I should…
It is unknown if there is lifespan or health span benefit to boosting bcg as an adult because none of the studies of vaccinated adults compare those with and without childhood vaccination.
In my opinion given the very low cost and risk then doing at least three bcg boosters as an adult is a worthwhile insurance policy.
And nevertheless, MB developed lung cancer - he was vaccinated with bcg in his childhood for sure. I also know other people who were vaccinated and later in life developed lung cancer. My take is that if bcg has any influence on cancer, it has to be done more than once.
Recent findings published in September 2023 in the peer-reviewed Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease suggest that a combination of three specific vaccines may help protect your brain down the road, too.
Paul E. Schulz, MD, senior author of the study and the Umphrey Family Professor in Neurodegenerative Diseases at McGovern Medical School, commented: “The findings suggest to us that vaccination is having a more general effect on the immune system that is reducing the risk for developing Alzheimer’s.”
In May 2022, Dr. McGovern’s team also presented research revealing that getting just one influenza vaccine could reduce Alzheimer’s risk by 40%, compared to those who didn’t get vaccinated.
To investigate further, Dr. Schulz adds about the current study: “We were wondering whether the influenza finding was specific to the flu vaccine. This data revealed that several additional adult vaccines were also associated with a reduction in the risk of Alzheimer’s.”
…
The data revealed striking insights. Individuals who received the Tdap/Td vaccine exhibited a 30% decreased risk of Alzheimer’s.
In perspective, 7.2% of the vaccinated group developed the disease, compared to 10.2% of those who weren’t vaccinated. (The researchers’ formula to arrive at the 30% difference was: Risk in unvaccinated – risk in vaccinated / risk in unvaccinated X 100%)
Similarly, those inoculated with the herpes zoster (or shingles) vaccine saw a 25% reduction in Alzheimer’s risk, with 8.1% of the vaccinated cohort developing the condition compared to 10.7% unvaccinated. The pneumococcal vaccine was associated with a 27% diminished risk. In this case, 7.92% of vaccinated patients developed Alzheimer’s, as opposed to 10.9% of their unvaccinated counterparts.
Research Paper:
The Impact of Routine Vaccinations on Alzheimer’s Disease Risk in Persons 65 Years and Older: A Claims-Based Cohort Study using Propensity Score Matching
If the research on Alzheimer’s disease prevention after Flu, Pneumonia, Herpes Zoster, and T dap/Td vaccinations is accurate, we should see a dramatic drop in Alzheimer’s disease incidence because most of the population in USA has been vaccinated.
It’s a little hard to track because there is a larger aging population in the U.S. and they are living longer.
Dementia is a disease that increases with age. Even so, statistics are showing a drop in rates.
“The rate of dementia has declined among older Americans. In 2021, about 6.2 million U.S. adults aged 65 or older lived with dementia. The prevalence of dementia decreased by 3.2 percentage points among men and 3.9 percentage points among women.”
BTW I decided to have Herpes Zoster vaccination after learning about a possible protection against Alzheimer’s disease and also seeing a very bad course of the illness in Dianne Feinstein.
Now I will have to have all other possible vaccinations! Ha, Ha.
Given that half the US population seem to be anti-vaxers, with only 51% getting annual flu shots, that alone might explain the high incidence of Dementia in USA compared to Europe.
It will be interesting to compare the rate of Alzheimer’s disease in San Francisco, Marin County, other Bay Area counties where everyone is vaccinated against everything with the states/counties with low vaccination rate. Probably many confounding factors will interfere with the study : level of education, type of diet, frequency of exercising and so on.
Yes the risk-reward is fantastic for these vaccinations.
One level up there’s also taking Valaciclovir prophylatically to prevent herpesvirus family infection. And checking oral microbiome and gut microbiome for bacteria/viruses that are associated with higher levels of alzheimer’s disease. I would also make sure to not have any bleeding gums, good in general but seems like bad bacteria could use it to get into the blood stream?
In EU we don’t do recommendations for the flu shot for everyone, only people 65 and above in chronological age or similar, so very few take them I think. I have never had a flu shot, but I will be getting my first one after this evidence.
In fact it is recommended for everyone over 9 years old. It is just highly recommended for older, frail, immunocompromised etc. I get it almost every year. But there is a clear division in EU where people vaccinate and where there are sceptic. Would be fun to check dementia map.
My wife and I just got our annual flu shot today on the NHS. Early 'cos we’re off next week to Barcelona for 2 weeks, then on a cruise ship back to Florida. Will be exposed to lots of people…
Yes, national guidelines.
I must correct myself on the above, it is recommended for everyone even for younger children that need two doses. Below it is google translation of the part with recommendations.
Although vaccination against influenza is recommended for all residents who want to protect themselves and their loved ones from the disease, vaccination is especially recommended for groups with a higher risk of a severe course of the disease. Influenza vaccination is especially recommended:
over 65 years old,
chronic patients and their family members,
persons who have a marked increase in body weight (BMI ≥ 40; in children, BMI ≥ 95 percentile for age and sex),
small children (from 6 to 23 months of age) and their family members,
pregnant women and their family members,
healthcare workers and colleagues and employees in homes for the elderly who are exposed to the risk of infection during their work or who may transmit the infection to other people during their work,
to other workers in essential services that are important for the operation of various activities.
