Causes, Risk Factors, And Complications Of Shingles

Shingles is a viral condition that results in a painful rash, though other symptoms include being sensitive to touch, itchy skin, numbness and tingling, as well as fluid-filled blisters. Patients may also deal with a fever, headache, persistent fatigue, as well as increased sensitivity to light. Most cases of shingles are found as strips of the rash and blisters around the left or right side of a patient's torso, though it can occur anywhere on the body. Shingles is not a life-threatening illness, but it can cause a great deal of pain. Vaccines reduce the risk of contracting shingles.

Varicella-Zoster Virus

Shingles is a product of the varicella-zoster virus, which also causes chickenpox. Chickenpox is medically referred to as varicella, while shingles is medically referred to as herpes zoster. When an individual contracts chickenpox as a child, the virus doesn't leave the body after it stops causing symptoms. Instead, it stays in nerve tissues around the brain and spinal cord, though it remains dormant. For reasons currently unknown to doctors, some patients experience a reawakening of the virus, where it travels along the nerve fibers and reaches the skin, causing the blisters and other shingles symptoms. If someone had chickenpox as a child, therefore, they are at a higher risk of contracting shingles as an adult.

Age Of Individual

The age of the individual has an impact on their risk factor for developing shingles. If an individual is older than fifty, their chances of contracting shingles or having the virus become non-dormant are significantly higher. According to some researchers, at least half of all individuals who are eighty years old and older have had or will contract shingles. A patient's risk becomes increasingly higher the older they get. Most cases of shingles happen after age fifty, but there have been reported cases where individuals younger contract the disease.

Shingles almost always occurs in individuals who previously had chickenpox, and it's unlikely to show up in those who have not had it. Some studies indicate one in three individuals in the United States will develop shingles at some point during their life, and about a million cases of the disease are reported every year. Getting vaccinated against chickenpox can prevent patients from developing shingles later. If individuals haven't been exposed to the varicella-zoster virus, they cannot develop shingles later in life.