Going by the findings of a study published in 'Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association,' the number of adults having shingles face a 30 percent higher risk of heart stroke within a year of the ailment which is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) - the virus that also triggers chickenpox.

In addition, researchers also found that the chances of suffering a stroke will increase four times in those people who suffer from a rare type of shingles which affects the eyes.

The study observed 7,760 patients with shingles and compared their rates of heart stroke with that of 23,280 adults who did not have the disease, during the period 1997 to 2001. It was found that within a year of the shingles episode, 306 people in the comparison group suffered from a stroke.

As per the researchers, it is probably the VZV virus that damages blood vessel walls and triggers a stroke. However, the exact reason for the co-relation between shingles and stroke risk is yet to be ascertained, and for that further research is necessary.

Nonetheless, noting that every year 250,000 people in Britain develop shingles, the painful skin rash, study researcher Jiunn-Horng Kang, MD, MSc, told WebMD: "If a person is already at risk for stroke, they should be aware that their risk may be higher if they have had shingles."