Shingles is most common in older individuals and people who have weak immune systems because of stress, injury, certain medicines, or other reasons. It is caused by the varicella-zoster virus and can occur repetitively. Causes and Pathophysiology of Shingles: A varicella-zoster virus causes chickenpox. The repeat attack results in shingles development. When an individual is recovering from chickenpox virus, the virus sometimes "sleeps" or goes into dormant phase especially in the nerve roots.
In some people, it stays dormant forever while in others, the virus "wakes up" when disease, stress, or aging weakens the immune system. Some medicines may trigger the virus to wake up and cause a shingles rash. It is not transmitted as chickenpox. Symptoms: First stage: A headache, sensitivity to light, flu-like feelings in patients but without any fever. Second stage: Itching, tingling, or pain…
