A recent study found that the shingles vaccine could reduce the risk of dementia in older adults over the next seven years by 20%. The research suggests that women are likely to experience stronger protection compared to men. 

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The study, titled, "A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia" was published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. 

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Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a viral infection that causes a painful rash. It's caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is the same virus that causes chickenpox. The symptoms include a painful rash, burning sensation, fever and blistering. 

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Notably, Shingles can get reactivated in the body after one has already had chickenpox as when people contract chickenpox, the virus remains dormant in their nerve cells for life. But the virus can reactivate and cause shingles in older people whose immune systems are poor. 

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A team of research led by Stanford University's School of Medicine tracked cases of dementia in Welsh adults. They said that the findings support an emerging theory that viruses affecting the nervous system can increase one's risk of dementia. 

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Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. It describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills.

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The researchers have analysed health records of more than 280,000 older adults. They found that those who received a largely discontinued shingles vaccine called Zostavax were 20% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia over the next seven years, as compared to those who went without.

As quoted by The Guardian, Pascal Geldsetzer, at Stanford University, said: "For the first time we are able to say much more confidently that the shingles vaccine causes a reduction in dementia risk. If this truly is a causal effect, we have a finding that's of tremendous importance." 

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The researchers used data from a vaccine campaign that was implemented in Wales over ten years ago. According to public health regulation, individuals born on or after September 2, 1933, were eligible for the Zostavax vaccination starting on September 1, 2013, whereas older people were not. 

"We show that receiving the zoster vaccine reduced the probability of a new dementia diagnosis over a follow-up period of seven years by 3.5 percentage points, corresponding to a 20 per cent relative reduction," the study quoted the authors as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)