Shingles linked with Heart Attack, Stroke Risk

As if the nasty, painful blisters that come with shingles weren't enough!

Researchers have found that having the infection between 18 and 40 years of age is linked with a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.

Shingles is caused by a virus called herpes zoster. The virus is the same one that causes chickenpox. When people recover from chickenpox, the virus remains dormant in the nerve roots. Shingles occurs when the virus re-activates in these nerves. Healthcare practitioners aren't sure why the virus gets re-activated.

Now, researchers at University College London have found that people between ages 18 and 40 years who have had shingles are more likely to have a stroke, heart attack or transient ischemic attack (TIA) years before other people of the same age. TIA or a mini-stroke is a warning for a deadly stroke that might occur later.

Also, people who've had shingles after 40 years have an increased likelihood of heart attack or transient ischemic attack, but not stroke.

Data for the study came from 106,600 people who were diagnosed with shingles and 213,200 people of similar ages of age-matched controls. Researchers analyzed medical records of participants for about 6 to 24 years after shingles diagnosis.

In the study, about 40 people with shingles had stroke (0.21percent) compared with 45 percent in control group (0.12 percent).

Data analysis showed that the stroke risk for younger shingles patients was 74 percent higher than others.

Also, people who had shingles before age 40 years were 2.4 times more likely to have TIA and 50 percent more likely to have a heart attack.

People over 40 years had 15 percent higher chances of having a TIA and 10 percent high risk of heart attack, researchers found.

"Anyone with shingles, and especially younger people, should be screened for stroke risk factors," Breuer said in a news release. "The shingles vaccine has been shown to reduce the number of cases of shingles by about 50 percent. Studies are needed to determine whether vaccination can also reduce the incidence of stroke and heart attack. However, what is also clear is that factors that increase the risk of stroke also increase the risk of shingles, so we do not know if vaccinating people can reduce the risk of stroke per se. Current recommendations are that anyone 60 years and older should be vaccinated. The role for vaccination in younger individuals with vascular risk factors needs to be determined."

The study is published in the journal Neurology.