Conversation

Scientists are increasingly sure that shingles vax lowers dementia risk. In the most convincing evidence yet of a causal relationship, people immunized against shingles in Wales were 20% less likely to get a dementia diagnosis in the seven years after their injections than non-pricked peers, according to a review of 280,000 older adults’ health records. Though initial evidence of this positive side effect started appearing in studies in the 2000s, scientists still don’t know the reason for it.