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Shingles
Shingles, also known as herpes zoster is a viral infection that affects the skin. Shingles appears initially as a painful rash followed by a blistering of the skin. The blisters develop about one week after the appearance of the rash and are fluid filled. This infection is associated with severe pain and sometimes numbness and itchiness of the skin. Shingles most often appears on the trunk of the body, but it is also possible for shingles to appear on the arms, legs and face. If shingles appears on the face or near the eyes, it is imperative that the afflicted person seek immediate medical attention, because shingles of the eyes may cause serious vision problems. Shingles is characterized by a band-like rash, which only appears on one side of the body. The fluid filled blisters break open and form scabs. These scabs eventually fall off and the pain begins to subside. The shingles rash can be quite severe and in some cases cause a permanent discoloration of the skin. The duration of an outbreak of shingles ranges from two to five weeks. In the United States about one million people per year are afflicted with shingles. The majority of people who develop shingles are over the age of sixty. Shingles in rare cases can cause serious health problems, such as blindness, scarring, infection and even death.
Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is the same virus that causes chickenpox. The name of this virus is derived from Latin and Greek. Varicella is the Latin word meaning “little pox” and Zoster is the Greek word for “girdle.” Shingles is not a new infection, but merely a second outbreak of the chickenpox. The virus lies dormant in the body, and settles in the nerve root or ganglia. The varicella-zoster virus can reactivate at any time in anyone who has had chickenpox. The varicella-zoster virus never leaves the body, and anyone who was infected with chickenpox in the past has the potential to develop shingles. Once the virus is reactivated it travels from the nerve root to the skin, where it appears in the form of the band-like shingles rash. It is unknown why the virus reactivates to cause shingles, but researchers have made associations between stress and a weakened immune system as potential causes.
There are several factors, which increase the likelihood of someone developing shingles. Shingles appears most often in people over fifty years of age. As the body ages, the immune system weakens. A weakened immune system increases the risk for reactivation of the virus. Cancer patients that are receiving chemotherapy, as well as those infected with the HIV virus are more likely to develop shingles, because their immune systems are compromised. Most individuals who experience an outbreak of shingles will only experience one outbreak and are otherwise healthy, however approximately 4 percent of people have more than one outbreak.
There are also several disorders associated with shingles. Post-Herpetic Neuralgia or PHN is nerve damage cause by an outbreak of shingles. The pain associated with PHN is intense and may last for several years. This is one of the potential complications of shingles. Secondary infections are also associated with shingles. A secondary infection occurs when the fluid filled blisters of the shingles rash become infected, and this may lead to scarring. Ramsey-Hunt syndrome is also a potential after effect of shingles, this disorder is associated with severe pain in the middle ear and blistering of the ear canal. This disorder clears up with a few months of the initial outbreak. Motor paralysis is also a potential effect of shingles. It is associated with paralysis in the area surrounding the shingles outbreak. Herpes Zoster Meningoencepalitis is a rare complication of shingles and it results in an inflammation or swelling of the brain. Patients usually make a full recovery. Recurrent shingles or more than one outbreak of shingles although rare can be a sign of a more serious medical condition. Recurrent shingles outbreaks can be a sign of a compromised immune system.
Shingles is not contagious. However, people who have never been exposed to chickenpox can become infected with chickenpox from direct contact with the shingles rash. Shingles does not cause any other type of herpes infection, such as herpes simplex 1( cold sores ) and herpes simplex 2( genital herpes ).
The treatment of shingles varies, but the most common treatment is antiviral medication, such as acyclovir (known as Zovirax). The treatment of shingles is meant to minimize pain and prevent shingles from spreading to other parts of the body. It is important to treat shingles within the first few days of an outbreak to minimize pain and the severity of the case of shingles. The majority of shingles cases are resolved within one month of the onset of symptoms.
www.aftershingles.com/shingles.html
www.healingwithnutrition.com/sdisease/shingles/shingles.html
www.familydoctor.org
www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/shingles/shingles.htm
www.webmd.com/content/article/78/95855.htm
Shingles
