Important Facts About The Shingles Virus
The shingles disease is in fact the chickenpox virus that has become reactivated. Consequently if you've ever had chickenpox, you may develop shingles, and actually, approximately a million Americans contract it every year. The virus travels along the nerve pathways to the skin's surface, where it causes terrible pain accompanied by a band-like rash with oozing, burning skin lesions, all of which persists for about 3-4 weeks. Generally it begins with pain - like a headache - for a week or so, and then the painful rash develops. Once chickenpox has run its course, the varicella zoster virus retreats to nerve cells within the spinal cord where it may lie dormant for decades. Doctors aren't sure what causes this virus to reactivate, but they note a link between patients with shingles virus and weakened immune systems (either through stress or old age).
The pain caused by the shingles virus is so severe and nonspecific that people often feel they are experiencing a number of other maladies at first. Some patients wonder if they're having a heart attack, kidney stones, gallstones or appendicitis, depending on which nerve is affected. Often people report numbness, itching, tingling and pain before the rash, which is the main symptom of shingles, appears a few days or even a week later.
Once the rash appears, patients are strongly urged to see their doctors immediately to take antiviral medication and discuss pain medicine treatments before the nerves get damaged and the symptoms become chronic.
One of the complications of the shingles virus is called the Ramsay Hunt syndrome. This occurs when the virus runs down a facial nerve, causing severe ear pain and rash expansion over delicate areas of the face. The rash covers the outer ear, the ear canal and even the soft palate on the roof of the mouth. The eyes and the neck can also be affected, making it difficult to see or breathe.
"My husband was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for prostate cancer when he developed shingles in his right eye," Julia Hershfield, of Kensington, Maryland describes. "The pain was so bad that he lost all will to live. Shingles finished him." People with severely weakened immune systems may have this painful rash spread to internal organs affecting the lungs, brain and central nervous system, which can even cause death.
The highest risk pool for shingles virus reactivation seems to be people with weakened immune systems from leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, or HIV. Many people enduring radiation or chemotherapy, transplant surgery with immunosuppressive drugs or corticosteroid medication treatments are also more susceptible. More than half of the people who come down with shingles are over age 50, and 5% of the people with shingles are found to have an underlying, undiagnosed cancer. It is highly recommended that people over the age of 60 get the shingles vaccine.
The pain caused by the shingles virus is so severe and nonspecific that people often feel they are experiencing a number of other maladies at first. Some patients wonder if they're having a heart attack, kidney stones, gallstones or appendicitis, depending on which nerve is affected. Often people report numbness, itching, tingling and pain before the rash, which is the main symptom of shingles, appears a few days or even a week later.
Once the rash appears, patients are strongly urged to see their doctors immediately to take antiviral medication and discuss pain medicine treatments before the nerves get damaged and the symptoms become chronic.
One of the complications of the shingles virus is called the Ramsay Hunt syndrome. This occurs when the virus runs down a facial nerve, causing severe ear pain and rash expansion over delicate areas of the face. The rash covers the outer ear, the ear canal and even the soft palate on the roof of the mouth. The eyes and the neck can also be affected, making it difficult to see or breathe.
"My husband was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for prostate cancer when he developed shingles in his right eye," Julia Hershfield, of Kensington, Maryland describes. "The pain was so bad that he lost all will to live. Shingles finished him." People with severely weakened immune systems may have this painful rash spread to internal organs affecting the lungs, brain and central nervous system, which can even cause death.
The highest risk pool for shingles virus reactivation seems to be people with weakened immune systems from leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, or HIV. Many people enduring radiation or chemotherapy, transplant surgery with immunosuppressive drugs or corticosteroid medication treatments are also more susceptible. More than half of the people who come down with shingles are over age 50, and 5% of the people with shingles are found to have an underlying, undiagnosed cancer. It is highly recommended that people over the age of 60 get the shingles vaccine.
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