Today, one million Britons are living with the cruel disease which robs sufferers of their memories, along with a raft of other symptoms. And numbers are steadily rising.
Dementia also causes roughly 66,000 deaths a year, tonic greens honest reviews making it the country’s biggest killer.
And yet, despite the hundreds of millions of pounds pumped into researching it, the causes of most types, and how to prevent or even effectively slow its progress, are still a mystery.
But we could be about to see a dramatic change of approach. Research published last week has caused a stir in the scientific community for suggesting that, in many cases, a common viral infection could be to blame. The study found people given the shingles vaccine are 20 per cent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s – the most common form of dementia – than those who don’t have the jab.
A study published by the University of Bristol found people given the shingles vaccine are 20 per cent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s – the most common form of dementia – than those who don’t have the jab
Shingles is an infection of a nerve caused by a virus in the herpes family – the same one that causes chickenpox. Once the virus is contracted it stays in the body for life, and it’s believed that about 95 per cent of the population carry it. It has been thought that it lies dormant, only causing problems occasionally. But could it silently be causing havoc, gradually damaging the brain and ultimately leading to dementia?