People who develop shingles may face short-term increased risk of having a stroke or heart attack, finds a new study. The stroke risk is more than double-fold in the first week soon after the shingles diagnosis, said the researchers.

The study findings are based on the observation of heart health in more than 67,000 newly diagnosed shingles patients aged 65 and above. The researchers have also noticed a rise in the risk of heart attack following shingles diagnosis, but not to the extent of stroke risk. The increased risk for both the condition returned to normal within six months.

Study’s author Caroline Minassian from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in England said that the findings indicate that when patients have shingles then they may be most vulnerable. “If we know when these events are more likely to happen, this may potentially help to prevent strokes and heart attacks in older people”, affirmed Minassian.

In the study, the researchers have focused on almost 43,000 Medicare recipients diagnosed with both shingles and a stroke between 2006 and 2011. Around 24,000 shingles patients who suffered a heart attack in the same time-period were also included.

Nearly two-thirds were women and around 90% were whites. Study authors noted that there were very few who have received the shingles vaccine before diagnosis. The researchers observed stroke and heart attack occurrence in five different periods of time in the year following a shingles diagnosis.

When compared with risk level before shingles diagnosis, stroke risk was found to have increased significantly for up to three months following the diagnosis. The biggest jump of more than a two-fold rise was witnessed in the first week. But the risk reduced to normal after six months.

Minassian said that the possible reason could be higher level of inflammation in the body linked with a viral infection or blood vessel damage. “Acute increases in blood pressure relating to shingles-associated pain or stress may also play a role”, said she.

In a statement provided to Live Science , the researchers looked at data on more than 137,000 Medicare beneficiaries (all of whom were ages 65 or older) who had been diagnosed with shingles. Of this group, the researchers found 42,954 cases of stroke and 24,237 cases of heart attack.

People's risk of a stroke or a heart attack was greatest in the week following their shingles diagnosis, and gradually decreased over time, according to the study. For example, the risk of a stroke after a shingles diagnosis dropped from a 2.4-fold increase in risk in the first week, to a 1.6-fold increase in risk two to four weeks after the diagnosis, to a 1.2-fold greater risk five to 12 weeks after the diagnosis. By week 27, the risk returned to baseline.

According to a report from the Health US News, Seniors who develop the painful rash known as shingles appear to face a short-term increase in their risk for having a stroke or heart attack, new research indicates. The finding was based on the tracking of heart health among more than 67,000 newly diagnosed shingles patients who were aged 65 and older.

In other news, EUREK ALERT reported Shingles (herpes zoster) is a viral disease caused by reactivation of the chickenpox virus, varicella zoster (VSV), which causes a painful skin rash to erupt in a limited area. Typically, the rash is on one side of the body in a single stripe. It is more common in older adults and those with weak immune systems, but anyone who has had chickenpox can develop shingles. Studies in Europe and Asia have suggested an increased risk of stroke and myocardial infarction (MI) after shingles, but there have not been any previous studies in the U.S.

"We found there was a 50% increased risk of stroke for three months after shingles, but we also found that people who had shingles had many more risk factors for stroke than those who had not, suggesting they had worse health overall," explained lead investigator Barbara P. Yawn, MD, MSc, of the Department of Research, Olmsted Medical Center, Rochester, MN. "The bottom line however is that shingles was still associated with an increased risk of stroke for three months afterwards even when we made allowances for these multiple risk and confounding factors."