The BCG vaccine has multiple beneficial effects and is currently the recommended therapy for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer
Published Date – Sat 5/20/23 11:30pm
Photo: IANS
New York: The 100-year-old tuberculosis vaccine BCG vaccine may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, a study suggests.
The BCG vaccine has multiple beneficial effects and is currently the recommended therapy for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, suggest that treatment with the BCG vaccine can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias by 20%.
Among patients aged 70 years or older, this protective association was greater and the risk of death was also reduced.
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) followed 6,467 patients diagnosed with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer for up to 15 years.
The cohort included 3,388 patients who received the BCG vaccine and 3,079 patients who served as a control group and were matched on factors such as age, sex, and medical comorbidities.
During follow-up, 202 patients in the BCG vaccine group and 262 in the control group developed Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
The incidence rates for each group were 8.8 per 1,000 person-years and 12.1 per 1,000 person-years.
Additionally, 751 people died in the BCG vaccine group, compared with 973 in the control group. Therefore, treatment with the BCG vaccine also reduced the risk of death by 25%.
“A vaccine like BCG, if proven effective, would be a perfect example of a cost-effective, population health-based solution to a devastating disease such as Alzheimer’s disease,” said Marc Weinberg, lecturer in psychiatry at MGH.
“We are shifting our focus to investigate the potential benefit of BCG vaccination in older adults in clinical trials related to Alzheimer’s disease,” he added.
If a causal relationship is found, it will be important to understand the mechanisms involved. Weinberg and his colleagues note that the BCG vaccine’s effect on the immune system may play a role.
