Getting the shingles vaccine might help women’s brains stay sharper and lower their risk of dying from dementia, but it doesn’t seem to help men’s brains in the same way.

People who receive the shingles vaccine may have a lower risk of developing dementia, and this reduction in risk appears to be greater for women than for men.

Women who got the shingles vaccine may be a little less likely to die from dementia than women who didn’t, but for men, the vaccine doesn’t seem to make a difference in dementia deaths.

Getting the shingles vaccine might help lower your risk of dementia more for women than for men—like a 25% drop for women versus 10% for men—so scientists think women’s immune systems might be responding differently to the vaccine.

Getting the shingles vaccine might help lower your risk of dementia more for women than for men—like a 25% drop for women versus 10% for men—so scientists think women’s immune systems might be responding differently to the vaccine.

Getting the shingles vaccine might help lower the risk of dementia in women a lot more than in men—and it doesn’t seem to help men at all—so maybe men and women’s brains respond differently to the vaccine.