Shingles Vaccine Linked to Slower Biological Aging in Older Adults | Hacker News Reader

Shingles Vaccine Linked to Slower Biological Aging in Older Adults

gero.usc.edu

83 pointsandsoitis28 comments

Not gonna lie: this vaccine made me sick as a dog for a couple of days. I would still get it again in a heartbeat. A couple of days under the weather vs a debilitating condition that can cause months of agony is a no-brainer. Longevity is a nice bonus, but it’s just that, a bonus.

Ask any family practice or gerontologist if shingles is a big deal. They’ll confirm that yes, you really, really want to avoid it.

I got first dose yesterday, and casually mentioned it to my stepmom, who told me she wished she had gotten it because when she was taking care of her infirm sister, she got shingles in her scalp and now has alopecia. So that’s a thing too

It became painful for me to move my left arm for months after I got my Shingrix. It still hurts a little, especially in the morning upon awakening. This isn't a common side effect but I did find a case study of a woman who had worse pain for longer (about a year). Still would get the vax though. My mother-in-law actually had shingles. I don't want it.

I can confirm that it should be a good idea to get the vaccine.

Many years ago, I had shingles and it was a great torture for a few months, until the pain faded away. It was almost impossible to sleep, which made everything worse than just because of the pain.

The antiviral treatment that I had started promptly had a very obvious effect, but even with that a very long time passed until the pain gradually decreased so much as to be no longer felt.

Very interesting. I got this vaccine (needs to be taken twice) last year. Since then my back pain linked to possible beginning bechterews, which I have had for about a year, is gone and has stayed away for 2 months now. Could be unrelated, but it is so pronounced that I have been looking for an explanation. Very happy with it.

I tried to take it, but was refused because I'm still under the age of 50. Will try to convince a doctor to prescribe me.

You can absolutely get shingles at any time. Please keep looking to find a doctor that will listen to you. The fact that medicine holds onto this idea that it only affects old people is absurd.

Ironically, I caught it just a few weeks before I turned 50.

If you do catch it, it is important that you get antiviral medication as soon as possible to avoid long-term pain afterwards. I had waited three days to see a a doctor because symptoms breaking out at the start of a weekend, and that was close.

Just anecdotes, but I know two people who got it in their 40s, and one of them has some minor facial paralysis that he believes is probably permanent. I got the vaccine when I turned 50.

Why would a doctor refuse to prescribe it before 50? Is there a harm to receiving it “early”?

In countries where vaccines are paid for by the state (partially or fully) doctors won't prescribe them unless there's a statistically significant benefit across the entire population. If it's generally accepted that shingles is more common/risky over 50, guidelines will prevent doctors from offering the vaccine before that age, essentially not to "waste" public money.

This is untrue.

In the UK everyone turning 65 is offered the vaccine on the NHS.

The problem is that long term effectiveness generally drops in vaccine. Although we haven't had Shingrix long enough to give great estimates long term evidence of this we have this:

https://www.ncoa.org/article/how-long-does-the-shingles-vacc...

> No Shingrix vaccine booster is currently available.

So if you get it when you are 50, it will be less effective when you are 80 and more vulnerable to shingles. It has nothing to do with "being state funded" and everything to do with giving it to people when they need it rather than wasting it on people who don't, who then can't have it when they actually do need it.

I'm about to get my second shot of Shingrix. In the clinic it says it lasts for about 12 years. I think it just means you can return in 12 years.

You might want to check with your doctor about that, as that is not what the NCOA is implying.

I would really like to be wrong, as the shingles vaccine is less than £500 privately in the UK for both shots, and that would be worth it to not get shingles.

> In the UK everyone turning 65 is offered the vaccine on the NHS.

That's precisely my point: you're not offered one before 50.

I think one reason it's discouraged is that it's not completely clear how long it lasts, and getting it early may result in less protection later in life. Also it's only been tested in that age group. (At least, this is what I heard when I researched getting it early a while ago).

This is what my GP told me too, basically. I would really like the vaccine. I'm 48 and I feel like I'm rolling the dice...

> I think one reason it's discouraged is that it's not completely clear how long it lasts, and getting it early may result in less protection later in life.

Can't one just take boosters later, like, one every decade?

https://www.ncoa.org/article/how-long-does-the-shingles-vacc...

> No Shingrix vaccine booster is currently available.

No, I'm not sure you can.

> it's not completely clear how long it lasts

This explanation assumes we won't develop a better vaccine in a decade.

Shingrix was expensive. I knew too many people with horrific Shingles.

A couple of days of very mild flu symptoms for me.

Plan to avoid mental or physical responsibilities or events for 2 days after the shot.

They won't let you until you turn 50, I tried. If you do get it before then, the doctor could get into trouble. That's what I was told.

When I got the shingles vaccine two years ago it was the worst I've had in terms of site pain and general malaise, but certainly wasn't as bad as some people here are recounting.

My pharmacist said he knew someone who had gone blind in one eye from shingles, so that was a vivid motivator for me to get vaccinated!

I wonder if the effects against inflammation could provide help against cancer. Cancers often cause themselves to be surrounded by inflammation to help feed them.

Frequent micro-dosing of anti-inflammatory medication (such as Aspirin) has been tried as cancer-prevention therapy before.

In Sweden the Shingrix vaccine is associated with reduced stroke and dementia.

https://sveavaccin.se/vaccinationer/baltros/

Regards the mechanism, it seems ~35% of people get the shingles vaccination and you can imagine those are the people making most effort to live healthy and take precautions?

I had shingles aged ~60. I wonder if that gives any protection?

Am I the only one who has a more circumspect reaction to such finding/claim? The idea that vaccines have unknown (since they're discovered much latter) effects very much separate from what they're supposed to do isn't reassuring to me...

No, you're in the companion of anti-vaxxers, an all-American conspiracy theory spreading globally that denies hard evidence in favor of vague feelings of maybe this and maybe that and maybe the other thing and OMG we're so afraid and what if...

AI says that is around 6-10 months extra life. Needed prodding to make the leap tho.

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