New Study in the European Heart Journal says that people who get the Shingles vaccine have 23 % fewer heart attacks, and strokes than those who do not.
What is Shingles?
Shingles is a virus (varicella-zoster) that comes from the same virus that gave us chickenpox as a kid especially for those born before 1980. This is prior to the chickenpox vaccine becoming widely available. Once infected with chickenpox, the virus remains dormant or “hides,” in the sensory nerves of our spine and can “turn on,” or be reactivated as shingles or a blistering rash later in life. This happens in 1 out of 3 people infected with the virus.
Instead of calling the rash a reactivation of chickenpox, it was named Shingles or Herpes Zoster. Zoster is Latin for “belt,” and Shingles for “girdle,” to describe the rash as tends to form around the waistline in what is called a dermatome distribution or specific sensory nerve area.
Risk factors for reactivation is older age, weakened immune system, and stress. When shingles or chickenpox virus reactivates, it travels along the pathway of its nerve root to the arm, body, or face causing an itchy, painful, and blistering skin rash. Most people with shingles get rashes on the left or right side of the body. In some people even after the rash vanishes it may cause long- term pain or what is called “post-herpetic neuralgia,” (PHN) that can be disabling. In severe cases it may go to other parts of the body including the lung causing pneumonia, and to the brain but again this is very rare. It can also cause blindness if travels to the nerves of the eye.
There are medications called antivirals that can treat shingles and works best when taken as soon as the rash appears. This is especially important if the rash involves the eye. It’s a serious condition that can lead to vision loss and blindness. It starts with a painful rash often on the forehead and around the eye. The eye then becomes painful, swollen, red, sensitive to light and gets difficult to see. Prompt treatment with medication is needed to prevent blindness.
How do I get Shingles? Is it contagious?
Shingles while caused by the same virus as chickenpox (varicella-zoster) is not directly transmitted in the same way chickenpox is. This is because the primary infection is chickenpox and not shingles. The shingles infection can spread by person-to-person contact causing chickenpox in people who are not immune to chickenpox either by not having chicken pox as a child and developing natural immunity, or by partial immunity after being vaccinated. The virus then spreads by coming in contact or touching the fluid from the blisters, or by breathing in particles from the blister. In other words, if you are near someone with shingles, you cannot get shingles, but you can get chickenpox.
If you do get shingles, there are medications that can help. Antiviral medications used to treat shingles can also prevent the spread of the virus by shortening the time you have the rash and reducing the time a person is contagious. While shingles is not contagious, the virus (varicella-zoster) is contagious and can cause chickenpox in people who are not immune or have not built-up enough antibodies to chickenpox to prevent infection.
How can Shingles hurt my heart?
The New heart study showed that protection from heart attacks and strokes was 23 % better following the shingles shot. This improvement lasted for up to 8 years with the most benefit seen in men, people under the age of 60 (likely due to robust immune response), and those at risk of heart disease including unhealthy lifestyles like smoking, excessive alcohol drinking, or being inactive or sedentary. The effect was also seen in people not at risk for heart disease. The protective effect was strongest in the first two to three years after the shingles vaccine with protection lasting for up to eight years.
The study showed that the shingles vaccine may help lower the risk of heart disease, even in people without known usual risk factors as benefited people in rural communities and those without the usual risk factors for cardiovascular or heart disease. This means the vaccination could offer health benefits beyond preventing shingles. How shingles hurts the body is not fully understood but likely the virus causes inflammatory damage in the walls of the blood vessels leading to blood clots and by preventing infection may result in fewer heart attacks and strokes.
The vaccine tested in the study was the “live,” zoster vaccine, meaning it contained a weakened form of the varicella zoster virus that causes shingles. In many countries, including the U.S. this has been replaced by a non-live, recombinant vaccine, called Shingrix that’s safer and offers more and longer protection against the virus. Research is being done to see if the same heart or cardiovascular benefits is also seen with Shingrix.
In fact, the American Heart Association now recommends people over age 50 to get the shot. The American Stroke Association also recommends the vaccination because people who get the shingles shot had 16 % fewer strokes including fewer bleeding or hemorrhagic strokes than those who did not get the shot.
What should I know about the Shingles shot?
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the shingles vaccine is the only way to protect you from this painful disease. The shot is over 90 % effective in preventing shingles infection and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) or the long-term painful skin condition that can happen even when the rash goes away. The only shot available in the U.S. is called Shingrix. It’s a recombinant shot (created by genetic material) which is an inactive form of the virus. It’s better at preventing Shingles than the older live vaccine.
The shot is usually given in 2 doses separated by 2 to 6 months. It’s offered to healthy people age 50 or older or those 19 years and older with weakened immune systems. It’s given as a shot in the upper arm.
The vaccination is considered safe and usually without serious side effects. If you do have side effects, it happens in the first few days as your body ramps up a strong immune response to protect against the shingles virus. The most common side effects are soreness at the site of the shot, feeling tired, headaches, fever and nausea. Younger people may have more side effects due to a robust immune or protective response. There’s also a very small risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), a rare neurological immune condition that can be serious and lead to paralysis after getting the shot. A study showed an estimated 3 cases of GBS per million Shingrix doses.
Any last advice on heart heath and Shingles?
Shingles is a disease that we get can get from childhood chicken pox especially if not vaccinated that stays “dormant,” and reactivates or turns on in 1 out of every 3 people that can cause a painful and blistering rash and based on a handful of studies may also be responsible for inflammation leading to strokes and heart attacks.
So, if you are 50 years and older, or 19 years and older with weakened immune system the CDC highly encourages the shingles (Shingrix) shot even if you had shingles before, received the live vaccination or Zostavax (not as effective at preventing Shingles), or if had the chickenpox (varicella) vaccination in the past. You should not get the shot if you had a severe allergic reaction to the shot, pregnant, or if you are feeling sick with an acute illness as best to wait until you recover before getting the shot.
Your heart health may also depend on it, as studies, “suggests that the shingles vaccination may be beneficial as a public health strategy,” to help reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes even for people without the usual cardiovascular risk factors.
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