Every tetanus shot I've had involved a very intense sporting or outdoor injury that needed stitches. The cohort getting these are vastly more active than those who don't, in a way that's far more accurate than self reported "exercise."
Basically everything good is correlated with lower dementia risk; it doesn't take half a brain for any of the authors to have realized this.
Comorbid physical and psychiatric conditions were defined by ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes and included type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, stroke, ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, traumatic brain injury, vitamin B12 deficiency, depression, anxiety disorder, nicotine dependence and alcohol or drug abuse/dependence.
Methods state they are accounting for confounding, and it is disingenuous to assume fitness and activity was not taken into account.
The authors don't think the correlation is specifically the tetanus shot either, per the conclusion in the single page abstract. This paper's abstract (not an article) is just clearly and unambiguously stating that they have found a very strong correlation. The authors suspect (but don't know) that the tetanus shot is reducing inflammation, along with several other vaccines which are believed to have similar correlations but appear to have not yet been studied. Other studies have already linked inflammation with dementia, such as the ones showing patients can have the physical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease but not exhibit the symptoms of dementia, so this line of thought is very interesting and will hopefully lead to further studies. Perhaps the right anti-inflammatory medication could act as a prophylactic against dementia or even be able to treat dementia. Perhaps it will even point to brain inflammation as the reason that 'everything good is correlated with lower dementia risk'.
I don't see a way to access the article itself. From the abstract, it sounds like this isn't describing a randomized controlled trial, but rather a study based on database searches of VHA and Marketscan data?
Controls are mentioned, but I wonder if it's possible to correct for the reasons people might decide to get a shot.
Kaiser's recommendation: "Get a tetanus shot as soon as possible if you have a dirty cut or wound and 5 or more years have passed since your last tetanus shot." [1] (Emphasis added.)
This would tend to select for people who do more outdoor activity and are in better shape.
It sounds like doing an actual trial could be interesting, though.
> Get a tetanus shot as soon as possible if you have a dirty cut
If you were to go for that, would they be giving you a tetanus-only shot or a combined TDP shot? That might be a significant difference that the paper should have explored.
At least in the few European countries I know of, I believe TDP is something we get by default as part of the many childhood vaccinations. Though I do believe most adults stop getting the regular boosters. In this context, I don't know how to interpret the article's "Patients either had or did not have a Tdap vaccination by the start of either of two index periods" -- what group would you be in if you had it 50 years ago? What exactly is an "adult vaccination", and does it matter if you were vaccinated as an adult but it was 30 years ago?
I appreciate the attempt, but your link unfortunately already gives an error message: "Your session has timed out. Please go back to the article page and click the PDF link again."
Lower risk for dementia from having an active lifestyle that involves occasionally needing stitches, and being the type to go get them and also get a tetanus shot.
The idea that vaccines magically cure dementia for no particular reason is so absurb they should be embarrassed to publish this drivel. Basically everything indicative of intelligence, exercise, and health consciousness predicts lower dementia risk; it shouldn't be surprising that something associated with all of these seems correlated.
The abstract does not claim vaccines magically cure dementia. The abstract claims there is a correlation between vaccination and lower risk of dementia. The conclusion posits a rationale for this, which would need to be confirmed through further study. This further study could also help explain why other things such as exercise and health consciousness are also correlated with a lower dementia risk.
Adult tetanus shots are given to people who engage in intense excerise and then get medical care. It's not hard to see why this just might be a great signal for lower dementia risk.
"Vaccines have magical inflammation reducing properties" is not a conclusion any halfway intelligent person (who isn't trying to sell you something) would reach.
Bad article. Bad title.
Every tetanus shot I've had involved a very intense sporting or outdoor injury that needed stitches. The cohort getting these are vastly more active than those who don't, in a way that's far more accurate than self reported "exercise."
Basically everything good is correlated with lower dementia risk; it doesn't take half a brain for any of the authors to have realized this.
You didn't read the article did you?
Comorbid physical and psychiatric conditions were defined by ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes and included type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, stroke, ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, traumatic brain injury, vitamin B12 deficiency, depression, anxiety disorder, nicotine dependence and alcohol or drug abuse/dependence.
This would significantly reduce that problem.
Hey, some of us get our once-a-decade tetanus shots anyway.
Mine were always from working on the house, but I guess it's at least somewhat or an activity.
Methods state they are accounting for confounding, and it is disingenuous to assume fitness and activity was not taken into account.
The authors don't think the correlation is specifically the tetanus shot either, per the conclusion in the single page abstract. This paper's abstract (not an article) is just clearly and unambiguously stating that they have found a very strong correlation. The authors suspect (but don't know) that the tetanus shot is reducing inflammation, along with several other vaccines which are believed to have similar correlations but appear to have not yet been studied. Other studies have already linked inflammation with dementia, such as the ones showing patients can have the physical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease but not exhibit the symptoms of dementia, so this line of thought is very interesting and will hopefully lead to further studies. Perhaps the right anti-inflammatory medication could act as a prophylactic against dementia or even be able to treat dementia. Perhaps it will even point to brain inflammation as the reason that 'everything good is correlated with lower dementia risk'.
Hilarious how many new sockpuppet accounts were opened just to poop on this article.
I don't see a way to access the article itself. From the abstract, it sounds like this isn't describing a randomized controlled trial, but rather a study based on database searches of VHA and Marketscan data?
Controls are mentioned, but I wonder if it's possible to correct for the reasons people might decide to get a shot.
Kaiser's recommendation: "Get a tetanus shot as soon as possible if you have a dirty cut or wound and 5 or more years have passed since your last tetanus shot." [1] (Emphasis added.)
This would tend to select for people who do more outdoor activity and are in better shape.
It sounds like doing an actual trial could be interesting, though.
[1] https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/northern-california/hea...
> Get a tetanus shot as soon as possible if you have a dirty cut
If you were to go for that, would they be giving you a tetanus-only shot or a combined TDP shot? That might be a significant difference that the paper should have explored.
At least in the few European countries I know of, I believe TDP is something we get by default as part of the many childhood vaccinations. Though I do believe most adults stop getting the regular boosters. In this context, I don't know how to interpret the article's "Patients either had or did not have a Tdap vaccination by the start of either of two index periods" -- what group would you be in if you had it 50 years ago? What exactly is an "adult vaccination", and does it matter if you were vaccinated as an adult but it was 30 years ago?
It would also select for health conscious people with at least a little disposal income
The VA is completely free for vets (at least for me).
Actual article https://watermark.silverchair.com/glab115.pdf?token=AQECAHi2...
I appreciate the attempt, but your link unfortunately already gives an error message: "Your session has timed out. Please go back to the article page and click the PDF link again."
More support that proactively controlling chronic inflammation in the brain will significantly reduce the incidence of dementia?
This is a huge effect.
I will be scheduling a tdap, because why not? You are supposed to get a tetanus booster every 10 years anyway.
Good to see correlation finally proves causation.
The abstract only claims correlation. ("assocated with", "suggesting that these associations are due to")
Lower risk for dementia from having an active lifestyle that involves occasionally needing stitches, and being the type to go get them and also get a tetanus shot.
The idea that vaccines magically cure dementia for no particular reason is so absurb they should be embarrassed to publish this drivel. Basically everything indicative of intelligence, exercise, and health consciousness predicts lower dementia risk; it shouldn't be surprising that something associated with all of these seems correlated.
The abstract does not claim vaccines magically cure dementia. The abstract claims there is a correlation between vaccination and lower risk of dementia. The conclusion posits a rationale for this, which would need to be confirmed through further study. This further study could also help explain why other things such as exercise and health consciousness are also correlated with a lower dementia risk.
Adult tetanus shots are given to people who engage in intense excerise and then get medical care. It's not hard to see why this just might be a great signal for lower dementia risk.
"Vaccines have magical inflammation reducing properties" is not a conclusion any halfway intelligent person (who isn't trying to sell you something) would reach.
But does it work in mice?