Shingles

Larry A. Law

Shingles is a viral infection caused by the activation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), also called human herpesvirus 3. That's the same virus that causes chickenpox. If you have ever had chickenpox, you were exposed to the varicella-zoster virus, which stays in your body for the rest of your life. If this occurs, the virus can reactivate as shingles years later. Being exposed to children with chickenpox keeps adult immunity up and reduces the chance of shingles in the future. Unfortunately, because we have largely eliminated chickenpox in kids, there is no repeated exposure to the virus to keep shingles at bay. The medical community has traded a kid's disease with few side effects for an adult disease with a lot of pain and discomfort. The VZV is a member of the herpes family of viruses. When shingles develops, it affects the nerves throughout the body resulting in painful, uncomfortable symptoms.

Symptoms

Usually, shingles will last 2-6 weeks. Symptoms can include headache and fever, chills, upset stomach, itching/tingling/burning on affected skin, shooting pain like an electric shock, redness and rash (commonly seen on one side of the torso), and even changes in eyesight.

As the shingles virus travels along specific nerves, the rash usually appears in a band on only one side of the body. The band corresponds to the spot where the nerve fires off signals. It normally doesn't spread over the entire body, but typically remains localized.

While symptoms can be extremely uncomfortable, they are not normally life-threatening for healthy adults. Adults with a compromised immune system are more at risk for complications caused by shingles and could end up requiring hospitalization.

Causes

As mentioned earlier, shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus, VZV. After you have chickenpox, the virus goes dormant within the nerves of the body. If the virus becomes activated, typically later in life, there is a potential for shingles to develop. If you were born before 1980, it is very likely that you had chickenpox, even if you don't remember (it was a very common childhood disease). In many people, the virus will stay dormant and never develop into shingles. Grown-up exposure to kids with chickenpox keeps the immune system on top of the virus by repeated exposure as we age. Unfortunately, the chickenpox vaccine has virtually eliminated the disease resulting in a huge increase in the number of shingles cases. 

The virus can reactivate if an individual's immune system is weakened, compromised by immunosuppressants, or if under high levels of stress. Natural aging also increases the risk as the body's immune system becomes immunosenescent (less vibrant and active—more docile) with aging and especially without exposure to children with chicken pox. 

Developing shingles is influenced primarily by age (people over 50), overall health status, sex (women are more at risk than men), and race (Caucasions are 30% more likely to get the disease than other races). 

A study published in the Journal of Cutaneous Immunology and Allergy concluded that persistent shingles following COVID jabs was associated with the COVID spike protein. The researchers theorized that the COVID jab induced persistent shingles reactivation by down-regulating and perturbing the immune system. So, it turns out that COVID jabs increase the risk of reactivating shingles, if you've had it before or have risk factors for it. 

Diagnosis and Complications 

Shingles is usually diagnosed easily because of the accompanying rash along the path of the affected nerves. Often, nerve pain precedes the rash by several days. If a rash is absent after three days of suspicious nerve pain, then a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test can be done to determine if it is really shingles.

Posttherapeutic neualgia (PHN) is the most common complaint and involves the persistent burning or shooting sensation in the affected nerve and skin. This pain can last a long time before disappearing (approximately 10-18% of people experience this). For those over 60 years of age, over 60% have this pain last much longer. 

Eye and ear complications arise in 20% of cases and the cornea and retina can be painfully affected, leading to vision impairment and sensitivity to light, eye pain, redness, drainage, and even blindness.  

Treatment

There is no cure for shingles, but early use of antiviral medications can lessen or prevent nerve pain (PHN). Maintaining a strong immune system is vital. Research indicates that stressful life events and higher rates of depression elevate the risk of shingles. Reducing emotional and physical stress is imperative. A pilot study showed that meditation improved both pain and physical functioning of those suffering with shingles. Of course, the medical system recommends a vaccine (Shingrix) to fight this disease caused by the chickenpox vaccine (Varivax and ProQuad). It's a win-win financially for them to treat drug side effects with more drugs, so why not vaccines? But always remember that it's a personal choice and you should research the effectiveness, side effects, and harm caused by this vaccine to your native immune system. There is always a cost and sometimes it is severe. Remember that when they say a vaccine is 95% effective, it does not mean what you think. They claimed the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine was 95% effective. But that 95% effectiveness actually dropped to zero when the public learned that the vaccine did not stop transmission or infection at all (after they sold billions of dollars' of it). In reality,the jab turned out to have negative effectiveness—the vaccinated were more likely to get COVID than the unvaccinated!

A treatment approach from 1949 published by Dr. Fred R. Klenner showed impressive positive effects of using ascorbic acid against a number of diseases. One of the diseases discussed was the herpes zoster virus (shingles). Dr. Klenner used large doses of ascorbic acid to treat the pain and related how rapidly the pain disappeared in a number of cases. For shingles he used 2000-3000 mg of vitamin C given every 12 hours. This was supplemented by 3000 mg in fruit juice by mouth every 2 hours. Eight cases of adults were treated and seven experienced cessation of pain within 2 hours of the first vitamin C injection and remained so without the use of any other medication.