{"id":427578,"date":"2026-01-24T19:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T19:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/427578\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T19:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T19:08:15","slug":"can-the-shingles-vaccine-help-slow-down-aging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/427578\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the shingles vaccine help slow down aging?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"olderShare on Pinterest<\/a>Can the shingles vaccine help slow biological aging? Pictured: Elizabeth Gomez, 54, of Huntington Park, right, receives a Prevnar and shingles vaccine by pharmacy manager Sandra Gonzalez at CVS in Huntington Park on August 28, 2024. Image credit: Christina House\/Getty ImagesOver the last few years, there has been more talk about how people can slow down or improve their biological age. Scientists are currently examining a variety of medications as a way to help slow biological aging.A new study says the shingles vaccine may help slow biological aging in older adults.<\/p>\n

When a person thinks of aging, they normally think of their chronological age and how many birthdays they\u2019ve had so far. <\/p>\n

Over the last few years, there has been more talk about how people can slow down or improve their biological age<\/a>, which is the health and function age of their bodies on a molecular level. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are living longer and longer, but many spend those extra years managing chronic conditions, disability, and physical and cognitive dysfunction<\/a>,\u201d Eileen M. Crimmins<\/a>, PhD, AARP, a professor of gerontology in the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, told Medical News Today.<\/p>\n

\u201cSlowing biological aging could help extend not just years of life, but years of \u2018healthy life\u2019 \u2014 the years people live with better physical and cognitive function. We have shown that the only way to improve the health of the older population and increase healthy life is to intervene early \u2014 before people have diseases and disabilities. Identifying things that slow biological aging is important for understanding how we might improve population health at older ages,\u201d Crimmins explained.<\/p>\n

Scientists are currently examining a variety of medications as a way to help slow biological aging, such as the type 2 diabetes<\/a> drug metformin<\/a>, the immunosuppressant rapamycin<\/a>, and rilmenidine<\/a> prescribed for managing blood pressure. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe shingles vaccine is relatively new and recommended for older adults,\u201d Jung Ki Kim<\/a>, PhD, research associate professor of gerontology in the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, and first author of this study, explained to MNT.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior studies have found lower risks of dementia<\/a> and other age-related conditions. We wanted to understand whether it might also be associated with [the] underlying biological processes related to aging,\u201d said Kim.<\/p>\n

Researchers used seven different aspects of biological aging in the body to come up with participants\u2019 composite biological aging score: <\/p>\n

At the study\u2019s conclusion, scientists found that participants who had received the shingles vaccine had a slower overall biological aging on average, when compared to those who did not receive the vaccination. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis suggests that shingles vaccination may be linked not only to preventing infection and reducing its severity, but may also be more favorable to multiple biological systems, particularly inflammatory, and overall biological aging,\u201d Crimmins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this is an observational study and cannot prove cause and effect, it adds evidence that a vaccine that affects immunity also affects biological processes that underlie multiple facets of aging biology,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Additionally, shingles vaccinated-participants had much lower inflammation measurements, slower epigenetic and transcriptomic aging, and lower composite biological aging scores, than those who were not vaccinated. <\/p>\n

\u201cInflammation and molecular aging markers have been associated with many age-related health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline. Finding consistent associations across these domains suggests that shingles vaccination may be linked to slower aging at a biological level, not just differences in the immune system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crimmins said one possible explanation as to how the shingles vaccine might help protect a person against aging and health issues that may increase biological aging is that preventing reactivation of the shingles virus may reduce chronic, low-grade inflammation, which is a key driver of aging. <\/p>\n

\u201cVaccination may also influence immune regulation and gene expression in ways that support healthier aging,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur study suggests that beyond its role in preventing shingles, shingles vaccination is associated with slower biological aging in older adults,\u201d Kim said. \u201cThese findings highlight the interaction of immune system changes due to vaccine and biological aging that may have additional positive consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFuture research should follow people over time to better understand causality, examine whether similar patterns are seen with the newer shingles vaccine, and explore whether changes in biological aging translate into meaningful health outcomes like reduced mortality or cognitive decline,\u201d added Kim. <\/p>\n

MNT had the opportunity to speak with David Cutler<\/a>, MD, a board-certified family medicine physician at Providence Saint John\u2019s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, about this study.<\/p>\n

Cutler, who was not involved in this research, commented that his first reaction to the conclusions about slowing aging was one of caution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are several important limitations that temper interpretation of the association between shingles vaccination and slower biological aging,\u201d Cutler told us.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, the study is observational, so it cannot establish causality; healthier individuals who choose to be vaccinated may already have slower biological aging (healthy-user bias), despite statistical adjustment. Second, residual confounding is likely, as unmeasured factors such as health-seeking behaviors, frailty trajectories, access to care, or prior immune health could influence both vaccination status and aging biomarkers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThird, vaccination status was based on self-report, which may introduce misclassification,\u201d Cutler continued. \u201cFourth, most participants received the older live-attenuated zoster vaccine (Zostavax<\/a>), limiting generalizability to the newer recombinant vaccine (Shingrix<\/a>). Fifth, biological aging measures were assessed at limited time points, making it difficult to fully characterize long-term trajectories.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cFinally,\u201c he added, \u201cthe cohort consisted of older U.S. adults, so results may not generalize to younger populations or other countries. Together, these limitations mean the findings are suggestive, but hypothesis-generating rather than definitive evidence that shingles vaccination slows biological aging.\u201d <\/p>\n

Cutler suggested several next research steps that would be especially useful for advancing efforts to slow biological aging, particularly in older adults, such as randomized and quasi-experimental studies, longitudinal tracking of aging trajectories, comparative studies across interventions, and studies with more diverse populations by age, race\/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and health status<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, these steps would help move the field from intriguing associations toward actionable, evidence-based strategies for slowing biological aging and improving health in later life,\u201d he told us. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Share on PinterestCan the shingles vaccine help slow biological aging? Pictured: Elizabeth Gomez, 54, of Huntington Park, right,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2594,97,2749,183283],"class_list":{"0":"post-427578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-aging","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-longevity","11":"tag-shingles-vaccine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}