The Shingles Virus May Be Aging You More Quickly

"A 63-year-old viral immunologist suffered alarming symptoms, including impaired memory, waning concentration, and difficulty reading. While giving lectures to students, he found he had difficulty focusing and was often unable to finish sentences without pausing. But medical tests, including a brain biopsy, failed to get to the source of the problem, and over the next four years, his symptoms continued to progress."

"Remembering that his own symptoms had been preceded by a brief case of shingles, subsequent tests confirmed the patient had indeed experienced a reactivation of varicella-zoster. And so he decided to treat the problem with a course of acyclovir, an antiviral drug commonly prescribed to shingles patients. To his colleagues' amazement, the Colorado lecturer's symptoms quickly faded away and his cognition returned to normal."

"According to Andrew Bubak, assistant professor of neurology at the University of Colorado Anschutz, the true burden of varicella-zoster "is totally underestimated. But it's a very treatable virus." In recent years, increasing numbers of studies have shown that the devastating impact that shingles can have on brain health."

A 63-year-old viral immunologist experienced progressive cognitive decline including memory loss, concentration problems, and difficulty speaking over four years without diagnosis. After recalling a prior shingles episode, testing confirmed varicella-zoster virus reactivation in his brain. Antiviral treatment with acyclovir rapidly reversed his symptoms and restored normal cognition. This 2016 case prompted neurovirologists to investigate connections between shingles and brain aging. Historically, shingles research focused on postherpetic neuralgia, severe nerve pain once linked to suicide in elderly patients. Current research reveals varicella-zoster causes significant neurological damage beyond recognized complications. Experts indicate the virus's true burden on brain health remains substantially underestimated despite being highly treatable.

Read at WIRED