Can a routine vaccine prevent dementia?
It's fairly common for a medical treatment to cause side effects: think headache, upset stomach, sleepiness, and occasionally more severe side effects.
药物治疗引起副作用是相当常见的：头痛、胃部不适、嗜睡，有时还会出现更严重的副作用。
Far more rarely, a side effect provides an unexpected benefit .
更罕见的是，副作用会带来意想不到的好处。
This might be the case for the shingles vaccine.
带状疱疹疫苗可能就是这种情况。
Shingles is a painful, blistering skin rash caused by the varicella zoster virus responsible for chickenpox.
带状疱疹是一种疼痛、起泡的皮疹，由导致水痘的水痘带状疱疹病毒引起。
The virus lies dormant in nerve tissue and can reactivate to cause shingles in anyone who has had chickenpox in the past.
这种病毒潜伏在神经组织中，可以重新激活，导致任何曾经患过水痘的人出现带状疱疹。
A vaccine to prevent shingles is recommended for adults ages 50 and older, and for people 19 and older who have an impaired immune system.
建议 50 岁及以上的成年人以及 19 岁及以上免疫系统受损的人接种预防带状疱疹的疫苗。
While we know the shingles vaccine is effective at preventing shingles, evidence is mounting that it might also reduce the risk of dementia.
虽然我们知道带状疱疹疫苗可以有效预防带状疱疹，但越来越多的证据表明它还可以降低患痴呆症的风险。
Yes, a vaccination to prevent shingles may lessen your risk of dementia.
是的，预防带状疱疹的疫苗可能会降低患痴呆症的风险。
Dementia is a devastating condition for those affected and their families.
痴呆症对受影响者及其家人来说是一种毁灭性的疾病。
Currently, an estimated nine million people in the US have dementia .
目前，美国估计有 900 万人患有痴呆症。
The number is expected to double by 2060 , primarily because of the aging population.
预计到 2060 年，这一数字将翻一番，主要是因为人口老龄化。
In most cases, no highly effective treatments are available .
在大多数情况下，没有高效的治疗方法。
An effective preventive measure could have an enormous impact, especially if it's safe, inexpensive, and already available.
有效的预防措施可能会产生巨大的影响，特别是如果它安全、廉价且已经可用的话。
Some (though not all) studies have found that having shingles increases your risk of dementia in the future.
一些（尽管不是全部）研究发现，带状疱疹会增加您未来患痴呆症的风险。
And that's led researchers to explore the possibility that preventing shingles through vaccination might reduce dementia risk.
这促使研究人员探索通过疫苗接种预防带状疱疹可能降低痴呆风险的可能性。
Several studies suggest this is true.
多项研究表明这是事实。
For example:
例如：
Perhaps the best evidence suggesting that shingles vaccination prevents dementia comes from a natural experiment recently published in the journal Nature .
也许表明带状疱疹疫苗接种可预防痴呆症的最佳证据来自最近发表在《自然》杂志上的一项自然实验。
A natural experiment takes advantage of real-world circumstances by dividing people into an exposed group and an unexposed group and then comparing specific outcomes.
自然实验利用现实世界的情况，将人们分为暴露组和未暴露组，然后比较具体结果。
Natural experiment studies bypass the challenges of having to recruit hundreds or thousands of study subjects who might differ from one another in important ways, or who might alter their behavior because they know they're in a study.
自然实验研究绕过了招募数百或数千名研究对象的挑战，这些对象可能在重要方面彼此不同，或者可能因为知道自己在一项研究中而改变自己的行为。
The results can be even more valuable than - and as credible as - standard randomized trials.
结果可能比标准随机试验更有价值，而且同样可信。
In 2013, Wales made the shingles vaccination available to individuals based on their date of birth: anyone born after September 2, 1933, was eligible, while anyone born before that date was not.
2013 年，威尔士根据出生日期向个人提供带状疱疹疫苗接种：1933 年 9 月 2 日之后出生的任何人都有资格接种，而该日期之前出生的任何人则不符合资格。
Researchers took this opportunity to analyze health records of nearly 300,000 people: half were two weeks older than the cutoff date and half were two weeks younger.
研究人员借此机会分析了近 30 万人的健康记录：一半比截止日期早两周，一半比截止日期早两周。
The study looked at whether people developed dementia over a seven-year period.
该研究考察了人们在七年的时间里是否患上了痴呆症。
Researchers found that compared to those who didn't get the shingles vaccination, those who received it
研究人员发现，与那些没有接种带状疱疹疫苗的人相比，那些接种了带状疱疹疫苗的人
A study of this type cannot prove that shingles vaccination prevents dementia.
此类研究无法证明带状疱疹疫苗接种可以预防痴呆症。
But along with the studies cited above, there's a strong suggestion that it does.
但除了上面引用的研究之外，还有一个强烈的证据表明确实如此。
We'll need additional studies to confirm the benefit.
我们需要更多的研究来证实其好处。
We also want to understand other details of the vaccine's effect, such as whether protection applies more to some types of dementia (such as Alzheimer's disease) than others, and whether the effect of vaccination changes over time.
我们还想了解疫苗效果的其他细节，例如保护是否比其他类型的痴呆症（例如阿尔茨海默病）更适用，以及疫苗接种的效果是否会随着时间的推移而变化。
With any unexpected finding in science, it's a good idea to ask whether there is a reasonable explanation behind it.
对于任何意想不到的科学发现，最好询问其背后是否有合理的解释。
Scientists call this biologic plausibility.
科学家将其称为生物学合理性。
In general, the more plausible a result is, the more likely it is to hold up in later research.
一般来说，结果越合理，在以后的研究中就越有可能成立。
In this case, several lines of reasoning explain how a shingles vaccine might reduce the risk of dementia, including:
在这种情况下，有几条推理可以解释带状疱疹疫苗如何降低痴呆风险，包括：
The observation that women had more protection from dementia than men after shingles vaccination is unexplained.
女性在接种带状疱疹疫苗后比男性更能预防痴呆症，这一观察结果尚无法解释。
It's possible that the immune response to vaccination is different in women, or that dementia develops differently in women compared with men.
女性对疫苗接种的免疫反应可能不同，或者女性痴呆症的发展与男性不同。
All of us can take steps to lower dementia risk , mostly through healthy behaviors such as being active regularly and choosing a healthy diet.
我们所有人都可以采取措施降低患痴呆症的风险，主要是通过健康的行为，例如定期活动和选择健康的饮食。
Evidence is mounting that shingles vaccination should be added to the list.
越来越多的证据表明带状疱疹疫苗接种应添加到清单中。
It's a story worth following.
这是一个值得追随的故事。
Future studies of the shingles vaccine could even provide insights into how dementia develops, and how to better prevent and treat it.
未来对带状疱疹疫苗的研究甚至可以深入了解痴呆症是如何发展的，以及如何更好地预防和治疗它。
Until then, get your shingles vaccination if you're eligible for it.
在此之前，如果您符合条件，请接种带状疱疹疫苗。
It can prevent painful episodes of shingles - and may do much more.
它可以预防带状疱疹的痛苦发作，而且可能有更多作用。
Robert H.
罗伯特·H.
Shmerling, MD , Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
Shmerling，医学博士，哈佛健康出版社高级编辑；哈佛健康出版社编辑顾问委员会成员
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作为为读者提供的一项服务，哈佛健康出版社提供对我们存档内容库的访问。
Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.
请注意所有文章的最后审查或更新日期。
No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
本网站上的任何内容，无论日期如何，都不应替代您的医生或其他合格临床医生的直接医疗建议。
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