Dr. Vinay Prasad takes hammer and tongs to the idea that the shingles vaccine reduces dementia/AD. He focuses on shingles, but also mentions that this likely applies to all vaccines. He examines new studies, the original Wales study, and the observational studies. We may agree or not, but either way one needs to present credible contradictory evidence and reasoning. Like him or hate him, at the moment he’s probably my favorite analyst of studies on yt… or almost anywhere else for that matter. It is strict evidence that rules, nothing else - dura lex, sed lex.
Does the Shingles Vaccine Reduce Dementia? No! (via Vinay Prasad MD MPH)
I would reframe the question. Does the shingles vaccine reduce or eliminate the symptoms of a shingles infection? Yes, the vaccine is 90% effective. A full-blown infection involves a tell-tale rash, severe itching, extreme exhaustion, and burning pain from postherpetic neuralgia. Other symptoms such as a headache, fever, confusion, and seizures induce a state of near madness in the victim, resulting in personality changes, memory loss, and cognitive decline.
Asked Google “dr. vinay prasad should his opinion be trusted”. Generally, “no”. He seems to be chasing views on social media platforms by offering contrarian opinions based upon little to no research.
The observational studies can be thrown in the trash can and doesn’t prove anything, but the natural experiment in Wales was interesting. If the new pre-print methodology is good for both Wales and England, that means the result wasn’t replicated, and who knows why.
Overall I’ve gone from 75% → 25% probability that shingles vaccine reduce dementia risk by 1/5, until more definitive evidence. The two upcoming RCT’s sound interesting.
Talk about cherry picking articles and the messenger has a really jaded past. He claims others are political but his whole viewpoint is that the experts are wrong on everything.
You have to wonder about anyone who gets hired and takes the job with the Trump admin in the FDA and then you have to also be unique to get fired twice from that same administration. Although after seeing that video, I certainly understand his terminations.
There are tons of papers showing reduced dementia rates including date changes on vaccine type in populations with nearly universal uptake. Mostly it is the US has such differences in populations that get vaccines.
