A new Ontario-based study is suggesting the shingles vaccine may help prevent and/or delay the onset of dementia more effectively than any existing treatment.

The study was published in Lancet Neurology and led by researchers at McMaster University and Stanford University. It analyzed health data from more than 250,000 seniors in Ontario and found the herpes zoster vaccination, also known as the shingles vaccine, helped significantly prevent dementia.

“There’s no pharmacological tool that has been shown to have such a large preventative effect,” Pascal Geldsetzer, lead researcher and Stanford University professor, told CTV News Toronto.