杏吧原创

VACCINATIONS might have an unexpected bonus. They may dramatically reduce
your chances of developing Alzheimer鈥檚 in old age.

According to Ren茅 Verreault from Laval University in Quebec, his study
of ageing seems to show just that. Verreault鈥檚 team looked at data from 4392
elderly people in a five-year study and correlated the incidence of Alzheimer鈥檚
with a variety of factors鈥攊ncluding whether they had been vaccinated
against various diseases.

To their surprise, they found that people who鈥檇 had a tetanus or diphtheria
jab were 59 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer鈥檚 during the
study. Polio jabs led to a 40 per cent reduction in risk, and even flu shots
seemed to have a mild effect.

Verreault cautions that they only had very crude information about
vaccinations from a questionnaire, and the study wasn鈥檛 designed to look at this
specific effect. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very preliminary, but it鈥檚 intriguing,鈥� he says. If the
correlation turns out to be more than a statistical fluke, there could be two
explanations. Either boosting the immune system affects the brain鈥檚 ability to
fight amyloid plaques, or defeating childhood illness might have a knock-on
effect that leads to better mental health in old age. Either way, Verreault has
no idea what the mechanism might be.

For now he鈥檚 simply happy that they didn鈥檛 find the opposite
effect鈥攎ore vaccinations correlating with a higher incidence of
Alzheimer鈥檚. He hopes that someone else will now look at the link more closely.