You’ve probably seen the ads encouraging seniors above 60 to get the shingles vaccine – and think, oh bother, another vaccine to look into. But what if the same vaccine could potentially protect you from heart attack, stroke and cardiac-related deaths as well? 

A study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in March reported that people with heart disease, who received a shingles vaccine, had nearly half the rate of serious cardiac events a year later, compared to those who did not get the vaccine.

More specifically, the medical reports of over 246,000 adults with artherosclerotic heart disease were analysed – half of which had received at least one dose of either the Zostavax or Shingrix shingles vaccine.

The shingles-protected participants were found to be “32 per cent less likely to suffer a heart attack, 25 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke, and 25 per cent less likely to develop heart failure”. The researchers also noted that “vaccinated individuals were 46 per cent less likely to suffer any major adverse cardiac event, and 66 per cent less likely to die from any cause”.

“Looking at the highest risk population, those with existing cardiovascular disease, these protective effects might be even greater than among the general public,” said Dr Robert Nguyen, a resident physician at the University of California, and the study’s lead author.

It sounds promising, especially if you have been grappling with heart problems. But how does the shingles vaccine work on cardiovascular issues? Why aren’t heart doctors recommending the vaccine? What even is shingles? 

WHAT IS SHINGLES?

The varicella-zoster virus that causes chickenpox doesn’t die after you recover but lies dormant in the body. You don’t notice it because your immune system usually does a good job keeping the virus from reactivating.

But when your immune system naturally weakens with age, or what the doctors call immunosenescence, the virus starts to reawaken and reincarnate as shingles – a painful, blistering rash that erupts as a stripe or cluster on just one side of the body, usually on the waist, chest, back or neck. 

Shingles’ peculiar appearance is due to the virus traversing a specific sensory nerve that starts from the spinal cord – which explains why the rash doesn’t cross your body’s midline – and only affects the skin along that nerve.