What Causes Shingles and Postherpetic Neuralgia?
Many people get chicken pox when they are children or even when they get older. Chicken pox is caused by the varicella zoster virus, a herpes type of virus. After the chicken pox heals, the varicella zoster virus moves from the skin along the nerves and into an area called the dorsal root ganglia, a part of the nerves which lie next to the spinal cord. The virus stays there for many years in an inactive state. The virus is usually inactive for decades. It can “wake up,” become active again and multiply when a person’s immune system becomes weakened. For most people who get shingles, the weakening of the immune system is not the result of a serious problem. It is true that shingles may be brought on by cancer, AIDS, or drugs that lower the immune system, but this happens in a very small group of patients. The most common reason for lowered immunity in shingles patients is being elderly and experiencing a stressful event, such as an illness in the family or emotional distress. The reacti
