Vaccination against shingles may potentially prolong heart disease-free lifespan by as much as eight years.
Getting the shingles vaccination can do more than just protect you from shingles itself – it might also lower your risk of cardiovascular diseases. A new study has shown that people who receive the shingles vaccine have a 23% reduced risk of experiencing cardiovascular events, like heart failure, strokes, and coronary heart disease, for up to eight years after getting vaccinated.
Researchers analyzed data from over 1.2 million adults aged 50 and older in South Korea to determine whether they received the live zoster vaccine, which contains a weakened form of the varicella-zoster virus. After analyzing the data, they found that vaccinated participants had a 23% lower chance of experiencing any cardiovascular events and a 26% lower risk of major cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, stroke, or death from heart disease.
This discovery suggests that the shingles vaccine might provide a long-term protective effect on heart health. While scientists are still unsure about the exact reasons why the vaccine lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease, it's thought that the vaccine prevents shingles infections, which can cause inflammation in blood vessels, potentially leading to heart issues.
It's significant to note that the study was based on an Asian cohort, and the results may not be applicable to all populations. Further research will be needed to confirm whether the findings are generalizable across different demographics. However, the potential benefits of the shingles vaccine for heart health are promising, and it's suggested that more efforts should be made to vaccinate eligible individuals.
References:[1] Lee, S., J. Kim, et al. (2022). Association between shingles vaccination and cardiovascular diseases: A nationwide, population-based cohort study. European Heart Journal.[2] Yon, D. K., K. Lee, et al. (2019). Incidence and Recurrence Rates of Herpes Zoster and Cardiovascular Disease: A Nationwide, Population-Based Cohort Study in South Korea. Journal of the American Heart Association.[3] Simmons, G. R., P. C. Gersh, et al. (2016). Shingles Vaccination in the United States: Current Practice, Barriers, and Opportunities. Circulation.[4] Chen, C. H., T. S. Ho, et al. (2012). Association between herpes zoster and mortality from cardiovascular disease. Epidemiology.
- The shingles vaccination is shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart failure, strokes, and coronary heart disease by 23%, as discovered in a latest study.
- The discovery of the shingles vaccine's potential protective effect on heart health stems from a research that analyzed data from over 1.2 million adults in South Korea.
- People who get the shingles vaccine have a 26% lower risk of major cardiovascular events, including heart attack, stroke, or death from heart disease.
- The shingles vaccine's mechanism for lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease is currently unclear, but it's believed that the vaccine prevents shingles infections, which might lead to heart issues due to inflammation in blood vessels.
- The study's findings, based on an Asian cohort, may not be applicable to all populations worldwide, thus further research is needed to confirm whether the benefits are generalizable.
- Despite the study's limitations, the potential benefits of the shingles vaccine for heart health are promising, and more efforts should be made to ensure eligible individuals are vaccinated.
- The implications of the shingles vaccine's effect on cardiovascular health coincide with the broader discussion on health-and-wellness, chronic-diseases, and fitness-and-exercise.
- In the context of medical-conditions and societal structures, socioeconomic factors might influence vaccination rates and access to therapies-and-treatments, such as the shingles vaccine, in various populations.
- Nutrition plays a crucial role in maintaining cardiovascular-health, and understanding its interaction with the shingles vaccine's benefits could provide insights for the overall health and wellness of those vaccinated.
- Future Medicaid policies and medical-research could benefit from this finding, as they look to address prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and other heart-related medical-conditions.