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Shingles

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Shingles
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 5 to 6
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.65

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		dermatome, excruciating, neuralgia, post-herpetic, transcutaneous, vertigo, well-defined, zoster, viral, analgesics, invasive, burning, thereby, complication, episode, helping
	content words:		In Italy, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome

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Shingles By Jennifer Kenny

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¹     If someone mentioned shingles to you, you probably would think of the roof of the house. However, shingles is also an illness caused by a virus. It is sometimes referred to as herpes zoster. In Italy, it has a nickname of St. Anthony's fire. Do you wonder how it got that nickname? When you understand more about shingles, you'll understand how that name came to be associated with the illness.
 
²     You already know that shingles is caused by a virus. Do you know which one, though? It is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus. After a person experiences chickenpox, the virus doesn't actually leave the body; instead it stays dormant in the nerve cells, often for decades. Then, at some point, although doctors are not sure exactly why, the virus can start reproducing again, thereby returning as shingles. What doctors do know is that this sudden startup is related to aging and weak immune systems. When the virus reproduces, it travels the nerve's path to the surface of the skin...and this leads to...shingles!
 
³     At the beginning of shingles, there may be very vague symptoms such as numbness, tingling, itching, or pain. Then the pain becomes absolutely awful - burning and shooting generally on one side of the body or face. (Now the nickname St. Anthony's fire should make sense.) The pain is so bad that it might be mistaken for things like kidney stones, appendicitis, or even a heart attack! As the virus reaches the skin, a painful, red rash can be seen, usually a few days after the first symptoms started.

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