THE shingles increases the risk of stroke and heart disease by 35%myocardial infarction by 59%, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Cardiovascular risk is greatest during the first year after infection, and the likelihood of suffering a stroke is higher in patients under 40 years of age. An unpredictable and painful disease, shingles is due to the reactivation of the virus of the varicellaremained dormant in the body.
Shingles, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease
Researchers from Ulsan University, Seoul, South Korea investigated the association between shingles and cardiovascular risks using a Korean health care database covering the entire population of the country, including 519,880 adults who received a medical examination over a 10-year period. A total of 23,233 (4%) of these patients were diagnosed as having shingles. Both groups were then followed for the development of thestroke ormyocardial infarction.
The results of the study showed that individuals infected with shingles were 41% more likely to suffer from a cardiovascular problem, compared to the control group. In detail, shingles increased the risk of stroke by 35% and that of myocardial infarction by 59%.
The results of this study confirm the conclusions published in 2015 in the medical journal Plos One who claim that there would be temporarily a greater number of ischemic strokes and myocardial infarctions in people who have suffered from shingles.
Further studies are needed to understand the mechanism that links herpes zoster and cardiovascular illnessesbut Sung-Han Kim, from the infectious diseases department of the Asan Medical Center in Seoul and main author of this work, recalls that “it is important that the doctors treating these patients already inform them of this increased risk”.
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