Women who got two shots of the shingles vaccine seem to have a bigger drop in their risk of getting dementia compared to men who got the same shots—maybe because their bodies respond differently to the vaccine in ways that protect the brain.

Women who got two shots of the shingles vaccine seem to have a bigger drop in their risk of getting dementia compared to men who got the same shots — maybe because men and women’s bodies react differently to the vaccine.

Getting two shots of the shingles vaccine might help lower your risk of getting dementia, no matter your age, race, or whether dementia is caused by Alzheimer’s or blood vessel problems.

Getting two shots of the shingles vaccine doesn’t seem to increase or decrease your risk of getting dementia — and any link people thought they saw was probably just a fluke in how data was collected, not because the vaccine actually affects the brain.

People who got two shots of the shingles vaccine were about half as likely to develop dementia later on, no matter how old they were or what race or ethnicity they belonged to.

People who got two shots of the shingles vaccine were less likely to develop dementia later on—even when researchers checked for things like the pandemic or how dementia was diagnosed—so it might actually help protect your brain.