@article {LEHRER3271, author = {STEVEN LEHRER and PETER H. RHEINSTEIN}, title = {Herpes Zoster Vaccination Reduces Risk of Dementia}, volume = {35}, number = {6}, pages = {3271--3275}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.21873/invivo.12622}, publisher = {International Institute of Anticancer Research}, abstract = {Background/Αim: The relationship of herpes viruses and herpes zoster (HZ) with dementia and Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease is controversial. This study evaluated the relationship between HZ vaccination and cognitive impairment. Patients and Methods: We used data from The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to evaluate the relationship between HZ vaccination and cognitive impairment. Results: Using BRFSS 2017 data, we assessed HZ vaccination status in 275 subjects whose social activities were hampered by disorientation or memory loss. 61.6\% of vaccinated subjects (n=61) and 46.6\% of unvaccinated subjects (n=82) never had social activities hampered by disorientation or memory loss. The result is significant (p=0.025, two-sided Fisher exact test). The results of multivariate linear regression analysis, considering social activities hampered by disorientation or memory loss as a dependent variable, and vaccination (yes or no), sex, and education level as independent variables, showed that the effect of vaccination--reducing risk of social activities hampered by disorientation or memory loss--was significant (p=0.03). Conclusion: Our finding that HZ vaccination reduces the risk of dementia is consistent with the link between viruses and AD. Herpes viruses-induced reactivation of embryologic pathways silenced at birth could be one of the pathologic processes in Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease.}, issn = {0258-851X}, URL = {https://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/35/6/3271}, eprint = {https://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/35/6/3271.full.pdf}, journal = {In Vivo} }