Shingles Vaccine Linked to Lower Dementia Risk

A shingles vaccine may do more than prevent a painful rash; it may also reduce the risk of developing dementia and could even slow progression in those already diagnosed, according to a large analysis of health records from Wales. In a new study published in Cell, researchers examined the NHS rollout of the live shingles vaccine Zostavax, which was offered based on strict date-of-birth eligibility rules. That policy quirk created an unusually useful “natural experiment” – a near-perfect comparison between people born just before and just after the cutoff – allowing the team to estimate how vaccination affected cognitive outcomes over time