The same vaccine that keeps you safe from shingles could also do wonders for your brain, research out this week suggests.

Scientists at Stanford University and others examined what happened after shingles vaccination was introduced to the country of Wales over a decade ago. They found evidence the shingles vaccine not only reduced people’s risk of developing dementia but also lowered their odds of dying from dementia if they did have it. Boosting your immunity to shingles might offer a broad protective effect against cognitive decline, the researchers say.

“This study suggests that [shingles] vaccination slows or prevents disease progression across the entire disease course of dementia,” they wrote in their paper, published Tuesday in Cell.

A natural experiment

Several studies in rec

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