Parent at risk needs shingles vaccine
Dear Dr. Roach: I am almost 88 years old. All seven of my children came down with chickenpox at different times. I took care of them all, and never contracted the virus. I didn’t have it as a child or as an adult. Should I get the shingles vaccine?
T.E.
Answer:
It is almost a certainty that you had chickenpox, probably as a small child, when occasionally the symptoms are so mild they are not recognized.
Shingles comes not from exposure to chickenpox, but from a reappearance of the dormant virus, often at a time when the immune system is weaker. At age 88, you are at relatively high risk, and if you got shingles, you are at high risk for complications.
I’d recommend you get the shingles vaccine as soon as convenient.
Dear Dr. Roach: I am 66 years old and I recently had my yearly health screen. My cholesterol numbers were above 200 for the past two years. I have taken red yeast rice to keep the numbers below 200. My doctor told me that red yeast rice has been changed and is not what it has been in the paste.
Do you have any information on this? Is there a source that has a standard for red yeast rice?
M.M.
Answer: Red yeast rice contains a substance called monacolin K, which is the active ingredient in the statin drug lovastatin. However, red yeast rice is a natural product with a great deal of variability. In a study that evaluated the content of 12 preparations of commercially available red yeast rice, the monacolin K (lovastatin) content ranged from 0.10 to 10.09 mg/capsule (or comparison, the usual dose of lovastatin is 20-40 mg). I suspect you have been getting red yeast rice that is on the weaker end of the very wide spectrum. I don’t know of any brand or supplier that has consistent levels.
If you need medication treatment to reduce risk of coronary disease, I recommend a statin, as the dose is precisely regulated. If you aren’t sure whether you need a statin, a calcium score is a good way to get additional information about your personal risk of having a heart attack.