Over 50? Getting This Vaccine Could Slash Your Heart Risk By 16%, Says New Study

As we age, our hearts do, too—enduring wear and tear that can eventually take a serious toll. In fact, there are several ways your heart may change with time, according to the American Heart Association: “large arteries become stiffer, the heart muscle often works harder but pumps less effectively, blood vessels are less flexible and less able to respond to changes in the heart’s oxygen needs, and there is an increased tendency to form blood clots,” AHA experts write. 

The leading cause of death in both women and men in the U.S. and globally, cardiovascular disease kills an estimated 17.9 million people each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). As such, scientists continue to seek ways to help reduce heart risk. 

A new study, presented this past summer in Spain at the 2025 European Society of Cardiology Congress, has found that a simple intervention already recommended by the CDC in adults over 50 can offer meaningful protection. The first global systematic literature review and meta-analysis to address the topic, the study found that adults over age 50 who received herpes zoster vaccination to prevent shingles were 16% less likely to suffer cardiovascular events. This appeared to include heart attack and stroke, which account for four out of five cardiovascular deaths globally according to WHO data.

Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a viral infection that most often causes a rash on one side of the body. People with shingles may also experience pain or a burning sensation, sensitivity to touch, blisters, or itching, the Mayo Clinic notes. One in three people in the U.S. will develop shingles in their lifetime, adds the CDC.

Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. After a primary infection, most often developed in childhood, the virus stays dormant in the body and can later reactivate as shingles. At this point, the virus “can also invade large and small blood vessels in the head, which can lead to inflammation and vascular remodelling,” notes a news release for the study. “It is thought that this may lead to complications such as stroke.”

Two herpes zoster vaccines are available to prevent shingles: the recombinant herpes zoster vaccine (RZV) and the live attenuated zoster vaccine (ZVL). After reviewing 19  studies, the researchers determined that both options were effective in reducing heart risk. Adults who received either shot also saw an 18% reduced risk compared to others in their age bracket who had not received either shot. However, given the lower overall incidence of heart events in the lower age cohort, absolute risk reduction was highest among people over 50.

Bigger picture, the study also underscores the important role that vaccines play in promoting heart health: “The recent 2025 ESC clinical consensus statement on vaccination as a new form of cardiovascular disease prevention states that vaccines should be considered as the fourth pillar of medical cardiovascular disease prevention besides antihypertensives, lipid-lowering drugs and medications that treat diabetes, ” the new release notes.

So, if you’re approaching 50 or are older, be sure to ask your doctor about the shingles vaccine. Besides preventing shingles and its complications—not to mention lowering dementia risk by 20%, as The Healthy previously reported—a two-dose course of shots, per the CDC’s recommendations, could come with meaningful benefits for your heart. 

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