RESEARCH - Shingles may raise stroke risk

[Guest guest]

Shingles May Raise Risk of Stroke

Study Shows Shingles Patients 30% More Likely to Suffer a Stroke

By Salynn Boyles

WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Oct. 8, 2009 -- Adults with shingles are at increased risk for stroke,

especially if they have shingles that affects the eyes, a study shows.

The study is not the first to show an elevated stroke risk associated

with shingles, but it is the first to quantify the risk, researchers

say.

Compared to adults without shingles, those with the painful skin rash

were about 30% more likely to suffer a stroke within a year of the

attack. Patients who had shingles in and around an eye had four times

the risk for stroke in the year following the episode.

" If a person is already at risk for stroke, they should be aware that

their risk may be higher if they have had shingles, " study researcher

Jiunn-Horng Kang, MD, MSc, tells WebMD.

Also known as herpes zoster, shingles is caused by the

varicella-zoster virus (VZV) -- the same virus that causes chickenpox.

Anyone who has had chickenpox in childhood can develop shingles at

some point in their lives.

*******************************************

Read the whole article here:

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/news/20091008/shingle\

s-may-raise-risk-of-stroke

Not an MD