Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., accounting for 1 in 5 deaths.
And 1 in 3 people will get shingles — a painful rash from the same virus that causes chickenpox — at some point. The best way to avoid shingles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is to get vaccinated.
Turns out that shingles vaccination may help stave off heart disease as well.
For a study recently published in a scientific journal of the European Society of Cardiology, researchers analyzed data on more than 1 million people over the age of 50. That data went as far back as 2012.
Researchers concluded that getting vaccinated for shingles is associated with a 23% lower risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event like stroke, heart failure and coronary heart disease.
According to the study, this benefit of vaccination can last up to eight years. It’s particularly pronounced in men and those under the age of 60. The shingles vaccine also seemed particularly protective for those with unhealthy habits, like smoking, drinking alcohol and being inactive.
“There are several reasons why the shingles vaccine may help reduce heart disease. A shingles infection can cause blood vessel damage, inflammation and clot formation that can lead to heart disease. By preventing shingles, vaccination may lower these risks,” lead researcher Dong Keon Yon says in a summary of the findings.
The 1 million-plus people studied were followed for up to 12 years, making this one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of shingles vaccination among healthy people.
Those studied had received a live shingles vaccine called Zostavax. The only shingles vaccine currently available in the U.S. is Shingrix, which is not live, but the recent study isn’t the only one that suggests an added benefit of getting vaccinated for shingles.
Multiple studies have connected shingles vaccination to a lower risk of dementia. One such study involved Shingrix, as we reported in “This Vaccine Is Now Tied to a 17% Lower Dementia Risk.”
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