1<\/p>\n Less than half of those eligible have had their NHS shingles jab – have you?Credit: Getty<\/p>\n The findings, involving more than 1.2 million people, were published in the European Heart Journal.<\/p>\n The protective effect was particularly pronounced for men, people under the age of 60 and those with unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking<\/a>, drinking alcohol <\/a>and lack of exercise<\/a>.<\/p>\n Study leader Professor Dong Keon Yon, of Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, South Korea, said: \u201cShingles causes a painful rash and can lead to serious complications, especially in older adults and those with weak immune systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Previous research shows that, without vaccination, about 30 per cent of people may develop shingles in their lifetime.<\/p>\n Read more on heart health<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to the rash, shingles has been linked to a higher risk of heart <\/a>problems.\u201d<\/p>\n The data from adults aged 50 or older living in South Korea<\/a> showed those who got the jab had a 23 per cent lower risk of a cardiovascular event overall.<\/p>\n They had a 26 per cent lower risk of “major” cardiovascular events – a stroke<\/a>, heart attack <\/a>or death from heart disease<\/a>.<\/p>\n A 26 per cent lower risk of heart failure <\/a>and a 22 per cent lower risk of coronary heart disease was also shown.<\/p>\n The protective effect was strongest in the two to three years after the shingles vaccine was given, but researchers found that the protection lasted for up to eight years.<\/p>\n Professor Yon said: \u201cThere are several reasons why the shingles vaccine may help reduce heart disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n How getting vaccinated protects the most vulnerable among us<\/p>\n “A shingles infection can cause blood vessel damage, inflammation and clot formation that can lead to heart disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBy preventing shingles, vaccination may lower these risks.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, as this study is based on an Asian cohort, the results may not apply to all populations.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies following a healthy general population over a period of up to 12 years.\u201d<\/p>\n The vaccine was a live zoster vaccine, meaning it contained a weakened form of the varicella zoster virus that causes shingles.\u00a0<\/p>\n The research team plans to study the non-live type of vaccine that is offered in many countries, including the UK.<\/p>\n The Shingrix vaccine is offered free on the NHS to everyone in their 70s, as well as some over-65s following an expansion in 2023.<\/p>\n But uptake is low, with fewer than half of eligible people in the UK taking up the offer.<\/p>\n It comes after a study published last month found that the shingles jab could reduce the risk of dementia by 20 per cent.<\/a><\/p>\n WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR A SHINGLES VACCINE?<\/p>\n SHINGLES vaccination is mainly offered depending on age because the infection is more common in older people and can be more severe for them.<\/p>\n These are the eligibility criteria in England and Wales:<\/p>\n The vaccine is administered in two doses spaced between six and 12 months apart.<\/p>\n Patients should contact their GP to find out more or book a jab.<\/p>\n The research, by Stanford University in the US, compared medical records from 280,000 people in Wales before and after its vaccine rollout began in 2013.<\/p>\n This was when an older version of the shingles jab, named Zostavax, was administered.<\/p>\n Professor Anthony Hannan, of the Florey Institute in Australia, was not part of the study but said: \u201cIt is possible that the vaccine had direct effects on the brain\u2019s immune cells, but it is also possible that the\u00a0vaccine<\/a>\u00a0acted by slowing brain aging or enhancing resilience.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE shingles vaccine lowers the risk of a heart attack or stroke for up to eight years, new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[105,426,302,3912,211,12946,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-78351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-warnings","10":"tag-heart-disease","11":"tag-medicine","12":"tag-nhs","13":"tag-section-healthhealth-news","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114459287467891636","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/NINTCHDBPICT000983859293_376f97.jpg\")
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