Shingles: What Every Adult Over 50 Should Know (NAPSA)—If you’ve ever had shingles, you’re not alone. Each year, 600,000 or more Americans are diagnosed a painful skin reactivation virus. Anyone with this condition, disease caused by a of the chickenpox who has had chick- enpox is at risk for shingles, though people over age 50 are at greatest risk. Now, information about shin- gles—how to recognize it and treat it—is only a mouse click away at www.nihseniorhealth. gov. “Shingles is a major health problem in older adults. Launching this Webtopic is an important step toward our goal of informing older adults about this debilitating disease,” says Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which developed the content for the shingles topic on the Website. “Older Americans can turn to NIHSeniorHealth for accurate, helpful information about shingles diagnosis, treatment and research.” The site has an interview with Sue Spicer, a Maryland woman whotells about her experience with shingles and how she deals with it. “Consult your doctors so that you can start treating it immediately and not with calaminelotion,” she advises. Fortunately, if treated early, shingles can be brought undercontrol. Symptoms The outbreak of shingles usually begins with a burning, itching or tingling sensation on the back, chest or around the rib cage or To learn more aboutthe painful condition knownas shingles,the National Institutes of Health studies the rDNAof the varicella zoster virus. waist. It is also common for the face or eye area to be affected. Some people report feeling feverish and weak during the early stages. Usually, within 48 to 72 hours, a red blotchy rash develops on the affected area. The rash erupts into small blisters that look like chickenpox. The blisters seem to arrive in waves over a period of three to five days. Shingles can be quite painful. Manyshingles patients say that it was the intense pain that ultimately sent them to the doctor. They often report that the sensation of anything brushing across the inflamed nerve endings on the skin is almost unbearable. NIHSeniorHealth, a joint effort of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM), was designed especially with seniors in mind. Thesite is based on the latest research on cognition and aging. It features short, easy-toread segments of information that can be accessed in a variety of formats, including various large-print type sizes, open-cap- tioned videos and even an audio version. Additional topics coming soon to the site include problems with taste and smell, eye diseases, stroke and osteoporosis. The site links to MedlinePlus, NLM’s premier, more-detailed site that links to consumer health information from the National Institutes of Health and other reliable sources.
