The Shingles Vaccine shows Significant Benefits for Your Heart and Mind as Well
The list of potential benefits of the shingles vaccine continues to grow.
As Fox News Digital reports, beyond protecting against the viral infection and resulting painful rash, the shot has also been linked to a reduced risk of dementia. A study by Stanford Medicine, published in the journal Nature on April 2, found that the zoster vaccine — which is used to prevent shingles — reduced the probability of a new dementia diagnosis by about 20% over the next seven years.
“If these findings are truly causal, the zoster vaccine will be both far more effective and cost-effective in preventing or delaying dementia than existing pharmaceutical interventions,” the researchers noted in the study. These findings also support an emerging theory that viruses impacting the nervous system can increase dementia risk.
Senior study author Pascal Geldsetzer, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Stanford, said he considers these findings “hugely important” for clinical medicine, population health and research. “For the first time, we now have evidence that likely shows a cause-and-effect relationship between shingles vaccination and dementia prevention,” he told Fox News Digital. “We find these protective effects to be large in size – substantially larger than those of existing pharmacological tools for dementia.”
And now, a new study published in the European Heart Journal, has found that the vaccine could lower the risk of heart disease for up to eight years.
In the long-running study, researchers analyzed up to 12 years of data for more than 1.2 million people aged 50 or older in South Korea, focusing on shingles vaccination rates and 18 different types of cardiovascular disease.
They found that those who received the shingles vaccine had a 23% lower risk of heart issues, including stroke, heart failure and coronary artery disease. The benefits were greater for people under 60 years old, likely because they have a better immune response, according to the researchers. The vaccine’s heart health benefits were also more prominent among men and those who have unhealthy behaviors, such as being sedentary, drinking alcohol and smoking.
The primary symptom of shingles is a painful rash that can lead to serious complications, particularly for older adults and those with weak immune systems, according to lead author Professor Dong Keon Yon from the Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Without vaccination, about 30% of people may develop shingles in their lifetime, Yon noted.
“In addition to the rash, shingles has been linked to a higher risk of heart problems, so we wanted to find out if getting vaccinated could lower this risk,” he said in a press release. “Our study suggests that the shingles vaccine may help lower the risk of heart disease, even in people without known risk factors. This means that vaccination could offer health benefits beyond preventing shingles.”
The researchers shared several possible reasons for the vaccine’s protective effect on heart health. “A shingles infection can cause blood vessel damage, inflammation and clot formation that can lead to heart disease,” Yon said. “By preventing shingles, vaccination may lower these risks.”
Dr. Jasdeep Dalawari, a Virginia-based interventional cardiologist and regional chief medical officer at VitalSolution, an Ingenovis Health company, was not involved in the study but offered his comments on the findings. “This result is notable but requires careful interpretation, especially for the U.S. population,” he told Fox News Digital.
“The study used a live vaccine, whereas the U.S. uses Shingrix, a recombinant (non-live) vaccine,” Dalawari noted. “It’s important to note that Shingrix is over 90% effective against shingles, compared to the live vaccine’s 51%.” The live zoster vaccine contains a weakened form of the varicella zoster virus that causes shingles.
Although the study did consider other health conditions, lifestyle factors and socioeconomic status, the researchers agreed that it had some limitations. “As this study is based on an Asian cohort, the results may not apply to all populations,” Yon noted. “While we conducted rigorous analysis, this study does not establish a direct causal relationship, so potential bias from other underlying factors should be considered.”
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