Shingles is accompanied by severe pain and is often very persistent. Older people in particular sometimes suffer for months, and even after healing, the consequences can be felt painfully for a long time. Now researchers from London (England) are sounding the alarm:

Shingles increases the risk of stroke and heart attack

The viral infection with the herpes pathogen also increases the risk of strokes and heart attacks. This was determined by scientists after analyzing disease data in which several thousand patients with shingles were examined more closely.

In figures this means: Anyone who has shingles must be particularly careful in the first four weeks of the infection. This is when the risk of having a stroke from shingles increases 2.4-fold. And the risk of a heart attack due to shingles increases 1.7-fold. Why is this so? The experts are still puzzling over this. So far they have not found a reasonable explanation for this connection.

The doctor must act quickly

The older the patient, the greater the risk. That much is clear. Patients who are already at risk due to proven vein constrictions may also need particularly good prevention - in the form of blood thinners, for example.

Prevention: vaccination for shingles

The best protection against such catastrophes is a vaccination against shingles, according to doctors in England. If you are vaccinated against the herpes virus in good time, you only have a slightly higher risk of heart attack and stroke if you are infected.