There are many reasons to get the shingles vaccination, and it’s important to know that shingles can increase the risk of other health issues.
Shingles are caused by the varicella-zoster virus -- it’s the same virus responsible for chicken pox. In fact, that’s how you get shingles; when you get chicken pox, the virus goes dormant, hiding out in some of the nerves in your body. Later in life, it can reawaken, leading to shingles which are now linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
A study looking at over 200,000 people, some for as long as 16 years, published in the journal of the American Heart Association found people who developed shingles were at an approximately 30% higher long-term risk of having a stroke or heart attack. For stroke, this was especially the case between 5 and 12 years from having had shingles -- for a heart attack, the highest risk was in the period 9 to 12 years from having shingles.
Dr. Sam Kazziha is an interventional cardiologist at Henry Ford Health.
“At least 33% of us will have shingles, so that should increase and enhance people thinking that I need to be vaccinated,” said Kazziha. “This is something very important to do because long term it has an impact on your survivability or having a heart attack.”
The journal doesn’t show that shingles cause cardiovascular disease; it only shows an association with a significantly increased risk. Nevertheless, it is plausible that the inflammation from the shingles probably contributes to the buildup of blockages in blood vessels.
Where does the rash from shingles usually appear and did that make a difference?
The most common location is a stripe running slightly diagonally around someone’s torso. The face particularly the forehead on one side, is the next most common place, and although this study didn’t track the location of the rash, there’s no reason to think one location would increase the risk over another.