A vaccine that prevents one of the most painful infections around could be good for your brain and heart, too. New research out this week shows the shingles vaccine is linked to a lower risk of several serious health conditions.

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University examined the health records of Americans over the age of 50. Those protected against the viral infection were less likely to develop heart disease, stroke, and a common form of dementia, they found. The findings are the latest to suggest that shingles can cause long-term consequences throughout the body.

The lingering threat

Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same germ responsible for chickenpox in children. Chickenpox typically causes a brief, if miserable, bout of illness. But afterward, the vir

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