Worldwide, it is estimated that approximately one in two people aged 85 has had at least one episode of shingles during their lifetime.
Disease due to reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, occurring in a person who has already had chickenpox, shingles is not fatal but can cause significant complications. Shingles often occurs following prolonged stress or chronic fatigue.
Shingles (alone) is not fatal
The specialist journal ‘The Conversation’ reports that people affected by shingles have an 80% higher risk ofaccident cerebrovascular than those without the disease. The threat of a stroke is still high even a year following recovery from shingles.
The threat of a stroke is still high even a year following recovering from shingles
Why the risks ofAVC are more important following shingles? This is due to chronic changes in the vascular system and inflammation which can increase the risk of blockage of blood vessels and restriction of blood flow. The virus would also cause inflammation in the arteries and most often in those of the brain, thus promoting stroke.
20% of the French population would be affected by shingles during their lifetime
Note that the chickenpox pathogen remains dormant for life in our body following contagion. According to the Health Watch Institute, 20% of the French population would be affected by shingles during their lifetime. Two years ago, scientists at Yale University of America hypothesized that the shingles vaccine might lower the risk of stroke.
