

Shingrix ®, which was approved by the FDA in 2017, has been shown to be more than 90 percent effective at preventing shingles. Since this shot may also help your heart, getting it is a no-brainer! Since the shingles vaccines can help your heart, the American Heart Association recommends adults over age 50 get it. It’s more effective in preventing an infection, so it might decrease the risk of stroke even more. Since that study was completed, a new vaccine, called Shingrix ®, has become available. The research looked at the effects of the first shingles vaccine, called Zostavax ®. (Unfortunately if you have already had shingles, the vaccine won’t help you prevent a stroke.) When looking just at people under age 80, the vaccine lowered stroke risk by 20%.

The newest research found that getting one type of the vaccine, zoster vaccine live, decreased the risk for stroke by about 16% in people who hadn’t had a stroke. Here’s the good news: the shingles shot can help lower your risk of stroke. That includes infections of the herpes zoster virus, which is responsible for chicken pox and shingles. Those blood clots can block blood flow to the heart muscle or the brain.Īnything that increases inflammation in your body increases your risk for heart problems. It causes the lining of blood vessels to tear and blood clots to form. How does shingles increase the risk for heart problems? Heart attacks and strokes are thought to happen because of inflammation. People who get shingles have a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 59% higher risk of heart attack than those who don’t get shingles. A 2017 study showed that shingles increases the risk for stroke and heart attack. One in three people over age 40 will have shingles at some time during their life.īut the rash isn’t the only thing to worry about. In some cases, it can require you to take time off from work and just make your life miserable. This causes shingles-a very painful rash on the side of the face or body.

The virus stays in the body for years and can later be reactivated. Shingles results from the same virus (herpes zoster) that gave you chicken pox as a kid. Now there’s a surprising new way to avoid heart attacks and strokes-the shingles vaccine. These include things like eating a heart-friendly diet, walking or being physically active regularly, and not smoking. You probably know a few ways to prevent problems like strokes and heart attacks.
