Study: Shingles vaccine could reduce risk of dementia, cardiovascular conditions

The shingles vaccine can significantly reduce the chance of developing vascular dementia, while also lowering the risk of blood clots, heart attacks and death in people ages 50 and older, according to a new medical study.

Infectious disease researchers at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine in Cleveland found the vaccine, used to prevent herpes zoster, or shingles, is also linked to lower risks of heart disease and dementia.

'Additional benefit'

"The shingles vaccine is a very good vaccine," said Dr. Aaron Glatt, chair of the department of medicine and chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital, in Oceanside, who was not involved in the study. "It prevents shingles, which is its purpose. But now you get some additional benefit that may be even more important than the original benefit from which it was intended."

The study examined the electronic health records of 174,000 U.S. adults across 107 health systems who received the shingles vaccination over a span of three months and seven years. Researchers then compared outcomes from the shingles vaccine to the pneumococcal vaccine, used to prevent pneumonia, typically also in older Americans. 

The study found adults who received the shingles vaccine had a 50% lower risk of developing vascular dementia; 27% lower risk of blood clots; 25% reduced risk of heart attack or stroke and a 21% less risk of death.

Dr. Ali Dehghani, an internal medicine physician at Case Western and lead author of the study, presented the findings last week in Atlanta at IDWEEK 2025, a meeting of leading infectious disease experts

"Shingles doesn't just affect the skin," Dehghani said. "The virus can inflame blood vessels and raise the risk of clots and strokes. Think of it as a smoldering inflammation after an infection that can last for years to come. And the vaccine seems to calm that process down significantly. And that effect of calming that inflammation down seems to persist for years on end. And by preventing shingles and keeping the virus quiet, the vaccine may protect both the body and the brain and overall longevity."

Dementia affects more than 55 million people worldwide, with an estimated 10 million new cases every year, federal data shows.

Shingles is a red, blistery, fluid-filled rash that affects the nerves. Common symptoms include burning, shooting pain, tingling or itching, chills, fever, headache, fatigue or upset stomach. Even when the rash disappears, the pain can remain through a condition known as post-herpetic neuralgia.

The New York State Health Department said it could not provide statistics on the number of cases, hospitalizations or deaths from shingles across the region.

Promising, but more studies needed

Roughly 1 in 3 people in the United States will develop shingles — caused by the reactivation of the virus that causes varicella-zoster or chickenpox — in their life, according to data from the National Institutes of Health. Most cases of shingles last three to five weeks, medical experts said.

Previous studies have shown shingles, while not typically fatal, can potentially lead to serious neurologic and cardiovascular complications.

"Studies have consistently shown that people who experience shingles have a temporarily increased risk of heart attack and stroke, with the highest risk in the first few weeks to months after the rash appears," said Dr. Teresa Amato, vice president of clinical sustainability and resource stewardship at Northwell Health. "Since the vaccine prevents shingles, it theoretically also prevents this inflammatory cascade and subsequent cardiovascular risk."

Healthy adults ages 50 and older should get receive the shingles vaccine, Shingrix, which is given in two doses, even if they’ve already had chickenpox, the chickenpox vaccine or the now-discontinued Zostavax shingles vaccine, according to NIH recommendations. 

Shingrix, which was approved in 2017, is more than 90% effective at preventing the disease, NIH data shows.

 A previous study, released in the spring by Stanford Medicine, that analyzed the health records of older adults in the United Kingdom found those who received the shingles vaccine were 20% less likely to develop dementia over the next seven years than those who did not receive the vaccine.

"Our study really goes a little bit further and tries to delineate where the reduction in dementia is coming from, and it seems to be this vascular inflammatory pathway," Dehghani said. " ... And really no other study has shown the other outcomes, such as the blood clots, the pulmonary embolisms and deep vein thrombosis."

While Glatt said the findings were promising, he added that more studies are needed to conclusively draw a link between the shingles vaccine and the other improved health outcomes.

"It's difficult to prove that it definitely caused it. It's just there's an association," Glatt said. "But at the same time, you're not taking the vaccine for this reason. You're taking the vaccine to prevent shingles. But it's really, really wonderful that it also may do these other things as well." 

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.