The shingles vaccine not only protects against the painful skin infection, but also might provide heart health benefits, a new study says.
Shingles vaccination also appears to lower a person's risk of heart attack and stroke, according to an evidence review presented Thursday at the European Society of Cardiology's annual meeting in Madrid.
"We looked at the currently available evidence, and found that in this analysis, vaccination against herpes zoster was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks or strokes," researcher Dr. Charles Williams said in a news release. Williams is global associate medical director for global medical affairs-vaccines at the pharmaceutical company GSK.
Shingles is caused by a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus, the virus that causes chickenpox, researchers explained in background notes.
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