HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Over 50? You're at Increased
Risk for Shingles
(BPT) - A few years ago, a Harris Interactive-sponsored poll* found that Americans consider 50 to be the "perfect age" to live forever in good health. For many, the halfÂ-century mark can be a time when experience and opportunity balance perfectly - as told by the saying "50 is the new 30." At 50 there may be more time to spend on your hobbies or other activities that interest you.
At 50, the last thing anyone would want is to be blindsided by illness. Yet risks of certain medical conditions increase with age. For example, shingles is a condition caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox - a virus that 98 percent of adults have had according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Even after recovery from chickenpox, the virus never leaves the body. At some point later in life, it can unexpectedly reactivate and emerge as shingles - a painful blistering rash that can last for 30 days.
When Edwin DePeiza discovered he had shingles, he learned the meaning of the adage: "You don't miss something until it's gone." DePeiza, who is in his 60s and resides in Massachusetts, first noticed a burning sensation on his torso. By the time he saw his doctor, a rash had developed. Upon seeing the rash, his doctor quickly diagnosed it as shingles.
DePeiza, a passionate guitar player, witnessed how shingles can interrupt the moments that matter in life. His guitar playing had taken him all over the world, but the intense pain of shingles forced him to put his passion on hold.
"The things I love to do most I couldn't do, like playing in the band and spending time with [my wife] Marylou," DePeiza recalls. "The sensation of having shingles for me was like being scalded by hot water, [or] having hot cereal spill on you. I have never experienced that kind of pain or burning sensation."
"At some point later in life, it can unexpectedly reactivate and emerge as shingles - a painful blistering rash that can last for 30 days."
Blog from BPT Site, February 8, 2017