By: The Patient
Shingles is reactivation of the chickenpox virus. When you have chickenpox as a young child the virus stays inactive, it becomes a dormant in certain nerves in the body. Shingles occur after the virus becomes active again years later. The virus is activated when stress, aging, certain diseases and medicine weakens the immune system. Shingles can develop in any age group but usually develops in people who are 60 years and older and had chickenpox before they were one year old. Statistic has shown that one in three people will have shingles. Symptoms can happen in stages before any rash appear, usually it starts with one-sided pain, tingling or burning sensation, itching, flu like symptoms and headache. When rash appears it looks like red patches on the skin or small blisters that can stay on the skin for 2 to 3 weeks. The rash is usually around the spine, belly area and chest area but it can also be around face, eyes, mouth, ears and neck. Sometimes the blisters can leave permanent scars and nerve pain can be long-term. Shingles is treated with antiviral and pain medications. If detected in early stage shingles can be treated with antiviral medication to help with rash and pain relief. Shingles cannot be passed on unless a person is in direct contact with liquid from the blisters and didn’t have chickenpox as young child or chickenpox vaccine.
Shingle vaccine is recommended for people 60 and older, younger than that will need a prescription from the doctor.
Work Cited:
PubMedHealth. (2015, November 19). Shingles. Retrieved February 09, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001861/
WebMD. (2014, September 11). Shingles. Retrieved February 10, 2016, from http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-topic-overview
Cdc. (2015, August 05). Prevent Shingles. Retrieved February 10, 2016, from http://www.cdc.gov/features/shingles/
BigFudge
ReplyDelete1) Solid sources
2) I would recommend you break up into multiple paragraphs. Doing that will help your flow as well as help the reader keep track of topics.
3) I am curious which nerve cells the virus retreats into.
the patient
DeleteIt retreats into nerve ganglia which is big bundle of nerves which travels down the associated nerves to the skin and spinal cord because it only covers certain area on the body.
OMGmbz
ReplyDeleteI like how concise your blog post is. Definitely informative and easy to read. It is a blog I would go to for FAQs.
I would have liked to see a little more information on the epidemiology. Is it more common in males or females? ethnicities?
I'm curious to know how hormones play a role in triggering it considering that stress and age are commonly known to activate it.
the patient
Deletesome articles data said that females were more likely to get shingles than males but others said it was about the same in both. Women during menopause have higher risk getting shingles then men due to hormonal changes in the body.
feedmeee3
ReplyDeleteVery informative blog post! My mom had shingles by her eyes, and the doctor told her if she waited any longer to go in, she could have gone blind! I would recommend to explain the process of how a simple rash could lead to nerve pain! I am very curious about the stages of shingles. I am also curious about the origin of chicken pox, since shingles is a reactivation of chicken pox. What started all of this?
the patient
Deletethere are three stages of shingles:
1. prodromal stage: this is before rash appears, patient feels burning, itching and pain sensation.
2. active stage: when rash and blisters appear on the body.
3. postherpetic neuralgia: long term condition after blisters disappear.
Chickenpox(varicella), is contagious disease caused by varicella-zoster virus. Chickenpox is spread through contact with chickenpox blisters and the air by infected person who might sneeze or cough.