The rash caused by the shingles follows along a nerve line in the body, so you could have it along the belt line, but only on one side, for example. Some people have it on the face and near the eye – again only on one side – while others may have it around their ear. The blisters vary from being very painful to being very itchy and, at the same time, you feel tired and sick from the virus. All in all, it’s a very unpleasant illness.

After the shingles rash has healed, many people develop something called post herpetic neuralgia, which is nerve pain that is felt along the nerve where the shingles rash was earlier. Not everyone gets this, but it is a known after effect of shingles.

Now, researchers have found another after effect that can touch many people who have had shingles. After studying 7,760 patients 18 years and older (average age 47 years) who received shingles treatment and comparing them with over 23,000 peers who hadn’t had shingles, researchers found that while 1.3% of those who hadn’t had shingles had a stroke within the following year, 1.7% of those who had shingles did. This is a 31% increase in risk.

The researchers also found that if the shingles infection was around the eye and the eye itself, the risk for stroke increased even more.

It’s not understood why the stroke risk is higher, but this is a finding that bears further study so doctors may be able to identify patients who may be at higher risk for strokes.

~~~

Image: Newscom.com

Post from: Blisstree

Higher Stroke Risk 1 Year After Shingles

As if shingles isn’t bad enough, many people, particularly those over 60 years, develop a very painful condition called post herpetic neuralgia, a type of nerve pain along where the shingles occurred.

Nerve pain, neuralgia, is a very difficult pain to treat. While some people see the PHN ease off, some still have it a year later. Some medications do help some people, but not all.

Today, the FDA approved a drug called Qutenza, a high-concentration capsaicin skin patc. The medication was approved under the so-called Orphan Drug designation. This is given for products that may diagnose, prevent, and/or treat rarer illnesses, conditions, or disabilities – usually those that affect 200,000 patients or fewer.

~~~

Image: Newscom.com

Post from: Blisstree

FDA Approves Qutenza

DURECT Receives Orphan Drug Designation for Bupivacaine for Post-Herpetic Neuralgia

CUPERTINO, Calif., June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Durect Corporation announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted to Durect orphan drug designation for bupivacaine for relief of persistent pain associated with post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). Bupivacaine is the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Eladur(TM), Durect’s investigational transdermal drug patch. If Eladur is the first bupivacaine product approved for PHN, under the 1983 Orphan Drug Act Eladur will receive seven years of market exclusivity following the approval of the product by the FDA.

Eladur is an investigational transdermal drug patch intended to deliver bupivacaine for up to 3 days from a single application, as compared to a wearing time limited to 12 hours with currently available anesthetic patches (e.g., Lidoderm(R), an FDA-approved lidocaine patch for post-herpetic neuralgia pain management).

SOURCE: Durect Corporation

Image: Newscom

~~~~~~

Post from: Blisstree

Press Release: Medication for postherpetic neuralgia pain

What is postherpetic neuralgia

Shingles is caused by the same virus that gave you the chicken pox. If you haven’t had the chicken pox, you can’t develop shingles. After the chicken pox goes away, the virus that caused it remains in your body and – for most people – never causes another problem.

However, in some people, the virus is triggered – researchers think by stress – and the result is shingles. The stress could be any type of stress, from psychological to an illness.

While shingles, as uncomfortable as they can be, lasts about 3 or 4 weeks, after they go away, it can be replaced with a neuropathic pain, described as a severe burning, itching, stabbing pain, or like electric shocks along the same pathway where the shingles lesions were.

What are the symptoms?

You must have had shingles to develop postherpetic neuralgia, so after the shingles lesions go away, you may feel:

·         Itching and numbness to the area where the lesions were

·         Sensitivity to touch and temperature

·         Sharp and jabbing, burning, or deep and aching pain

·         Headaches

Why does it cause pain?

The nerve endings have be damaged and this is why the pain is occurring.

What can be done?

There is no cure for postherpetic neuralgia. Currently, treatment focuses on trying to relieve the pain. This could mean using a topical (on the skin) anesthetic, and analgesics, or pain killers. Some people find relief with different types of antidepressants or anticonvulsants, as well.

For more in-depth information, here are some sites that have reliable and up-to-date information:

After Shingles.com

U.S. Pharmacist

MayoClinic.com

Post from: Blisstree

Postherpetic neuralgia