Shingles can put you at great risk of having stroke, new study warns

Around 50,000 cases of shingles are present among elderly people and they are at risk, Mustafa Qadri writes

The shingles vaccine is available on the NHS but only to people in their 70s (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Shingles can increase the risk of a stroke and other major cardiovascular problems by 30 per cent, a new study shows.

A study of over 200,000 people conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, found that this elevated risk may last for 12 years or more after developing the condition.

Also known as herpes zoster, shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox, and can result in a painful rash anywhere on the head or body.

After a person has chickenpox and they recover, the varicella-zoster virus stays in their body for the rest of their life and may reactivate as shingles.

In England and Wales, around one in five people who have suffered from chickenpox develop shingles. There are about 50,000 cases of shingles in people aged 70 or above every year.

Lead author of the study, Sharon Curham said: “Our findings suggest there are long-term implications of shingles and highlight the importance of public health efforts for prevention.”

The participants who were partaking in the study did not have a prior history of stroke or coronary heart disease.

Information was collected on whether they had shingles or any heart conditions, using questionnaires collected every two years for up to 16 years.

The results showed that people who had previously developed shingles were at 30 per cent higher long-term risk of a major cardiovascular event compared with those who had not had shingles, and the elevated risk may persist for 12 years or more after having shingles.

As more people are choosing to receive the shingles vaccine, future studies could examine whether there is a correlation between the shingles vaccine and the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Ms Curhan adds: “We are currently collecting vaccination information among our participants and hope to conduct these studies in the future.”

People aged between 70 to 79 are allowed to have the shingles vaccine, but after turning 80, they are not eligible for the vaccine because it becomes less effective with age.

Their results are published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.