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.

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.

People who got the shingles vaccine didn’t have more or fewer other health problems than those just barely eligible for it—and since those groups were otherwise similar, it looks like the vaccine might help lower dementia risk, not just luck or other health habits.