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LEARN HOW TO MAKE OUR TYPE LARGER

Actress calls attention to shingles
Published September/October 2000

(NAPS) - Imagine a painful condition so bad you can’t wear clothing. Your back feels like it’s on fire. You have shooting, throbbing pain all day and night.

Unfortunately, that’s life for many older Americans who suffer from shingles and a painful condition called post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN).

Olympia Dukakis, Oscar-winning actress and star of such films as “Moonstruck” and “Steel Magnolias,” knows about shingles and PHN. Her mother was one of the million Americans who suffer from shingles annually. And, like one of every five shingles patients, Olympia’s mother suffered with the long-term pain of PHN.

“Nothing is worse than seeing someone you love in awful pain and not being able to do much to relieve the pain and suffering,” said the actress, who helped care for her mother’s condition. Olympia has joined with the Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) to raise awareness about shingles and PHN. She wants patients and those who care for them to know there’s help. What is shingles and PHN? Who gets it? Only people who had chickenpox can get shingles. The chickenpox virus stays in the body, and many years later, flares up, causing a rash and severe pain on one side of the chest, belly, back, or forehead. It also can affect the eyes.

The rash goes away after a few weeks. However, the pain may stay for many months or even years in patients with PHN. Many hurt so much that they cannot go about their normal lives, becoming homebound.

Most people who get shingles are over 50. The older the patient, the greater the chance of having PHN. Three of every four people over 70 years old who get shingles will have long-term pain.

For patients with shingles, doctors order pain relievers and drugs that kill viruses. Besides the usual opioid painkillers, other drugs are also prescribed to alleviate the physical pain, including anti-seizure drugs and antidepressant drugs.

Recently, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first treatment to ease the pain of PHN-a skin patch containing a 5% solution of lidocaine which is applied to the painful region.

These drugs might help because they affect the nerves that are hurt by shingles. VNAA has developed a comprehensive Web site (www.aftershingles.com) with information about shingles and PHN for patients and caregivers alike. Recorded information also is available by calling toll free 1-800-888-2227.

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