1. Shingles Raises Stroke Risk: Study - US News and World Report
Patients with the virus should be monitored for high blood pressure, expert says

2. Middle-Age Heart Risk Factors Shorten Men's Lives - US News and World Report
Smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol cut 10 years of life, study finds

3. Herpes zoster : Causes, incidence, and risk factors  (Trust Mark: Doctor-Reviewed)
After you get chickenpox, the virus falls asleep (becomes dormant) in certain nerves in the body. Shingles occurs after the virus becomes reactive in these nerves after many years. The reason the virus suddenly become active again is not clear. Of...• Reviewer: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.