{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Can This Vaccine Help Prevent Alzheimer's?","description":"Can a shingles vaccine cut your dementia risk by 20%? A series of landmark studies \u2014 published in Nature, Cell, and JAMA \u2014 say yes. In this episode, Tommy unpacks the research: how natural experiments in four countries produced one of the most compelling signals in dementia prevention, what might explain the effect beyond infection prevention, and what it means for your own vaccination decisions. In this episode: 00:00 \u2014 Introduction 00:52 \u2014 The new data on shingles vaccination and Alzheimer's risk 01:48 \u2014 The Stanford group and their regression discontinuity methodology 03:15 \u2014 How birthday-based eligibility creates a natural experiment (Wales, Canada, Australia) 05:28 \u2014 Results: a ~20% reduction in dementia diagnoses across all countries 06:52 \u2014 The Cell paper follow-up: benefits at every disease stage (unimpaired \u2192 MCI \u2192 dementia) 07:55 \u2014 Shingrix vs. Zostavax: the US natural experiment and a potentially larger effect 09:08 \u2014 Why does it work? Preventing illness, avoiding bed rest and disuse, immunomodulation 11:29 \u2014 Neuroinflammation and possible immune system "tuning" effects 12:27 \u2014 The sex difference: greater benefit in women in most (but not all) studies 15:52 \u2014 Summary of the evidence and what it means for dementia prevention strategy 17:36 \u2014 Josh's take: number needed to treat analysis 19:15 \u2014 Heterogeneous pathways to dementia and why vaccination fits the toolkit 21:13 \u2014 Practical advice: when to get vaccinated, repeat dosing, and personal risk assessment 25:36 \u2014 Wrap-up and how to submit questions Links & Resources: Shingles vaccine and dementia studies: Nature (Wales, 2025), Cell (Wales follow-up), JAMA\/Lancet (Canada, Australia, US) Flu vaccine and dementia: Neurology (2026) Tommy's book: The Stimulated Mind To submit a question for us to answer on the podcast, go to brainjo.academy\/question. To subscribe to the free Better Brain Fitness newsletter, join us when we record live, and get our Guide and Checklist to essential blood tests and nutrients, go to: betterbrain.fitness. To learn more about how you can boost brain fitness with neuroscience-based musical instruction, head to brainjo.academy.  Intro and Outro music composed and produced by Julienne Ellen.    ","author_name":"Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood","author_url":"http:\/\/brainjo.academy\/","html":"