[메디컬투데이TV] If you have ever had shingles, you are at higher risk for cognitive decline as you age.

[메디컬투데이=이승재 기자] Research has shown that people with shingles are at greater risk of cognitive decline.

The results of a study examining the correlation between shingles history and subjective cognitive ability were published in the journal Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy.

Shingles is a disease that causes painful rashes and blisters to form on the skin. If you are infected with the Varicella-Zoster virus, the virus that causes chicken pox when you are young, the virus does not disappear and remains dormant in the body’s ganglia, and then reactivate when immunity is low, causing shingles.

Recently, a vaccine against the varicella-zoster virus has been implemented and the number has decreased significantly, however, most people over the age of 50 have age in the United States have suffered from chicken pox as children, so they are always exposed to the risk of developing shingles.

Shingles usually gets better with the use of antiviral drugs and pain medications. However, it could leave after-effects, a typical example being post-herpetic neuralgia. Recently, research results have reported that shingles can lead to brain damage such as dementia.

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the United States studied the correlation between a history of shingles and a decrease in cognitive ability.

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) refers to a decline in cognitive function that the person or those around them feel, although no change is observed in objective cognitive function indicators.

The results of the study showed that people who had suffered from shingles had a 20% greater risk of decline in personal cognitive ability compared to people who had not suffered from shingles. These findings are consistent with previous research showing that the higher the shingles vaccination rate, the lower the incidence of dementia.

Based on these results, the researchers concluded that if you have ever suffered from shingles, you are at high risk for your mental ability to decline.

Medical Today Video Editing Team ([email protected])

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