Study Ties Shingles Virus to Dangerous Blood Vessel Disease in Elderly
Study Ties Shingles Virus to Dangerous Blood Vessel Disease in Elderly
By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 18, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- New research links the virus behind chickenpox and shingles to a blood vessel condition that afflicts the elderly and can sometimes be deadly.
The study doesn't prove that the so-called varicella zoster virus causes the condition, known as giant cell arteritis. But study author Dr. Don Gilden, a professor of neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, said the findings suggest that the standard treatment of steroids, which reduce inflammation, aren't enough on their own.
"You need to treat the virus and the inflammation that goes along with it," he said. "This is totally new."
That means patients with the condition should take antiviral medications to fight off the chickenpox virus, he added.
About 30 cases of giant cell arteritis appear in every 100,000 people each year, Gilden said, or about 300 cases in a city of one million.
By the age of 80, the condition appears in one out of 2,000 people, said Dr. Mark Moster, a professor of neurology and ophthalmology at Wills Eye Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine, in Philadelphia.
It typically strikes people over the age of 60 and causes inflamed blood vessels in the scalp, neck and arms that can lead to sudden headaches, muscle aches, visual symptoms and pain while chewing, according to the U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. In the most severe cases, the condition can lead to blindness, stroke and even death.
The researchers looked for links between the condition and the chickenpox/shingles virus because of the unusual way that it replicates in arteries, Gilden explained. The chickenpox virus remains in the body after someone gets the disease and can reappear later in life as the painful skin rash known as shingles.
In the new study, researchers examined biopsies of arteries from 95 dead people. They found signs of the chickenpox virus in 74 percent (61 of 82) of people who'd also had giant cell arteritis, but the virus was present in just 8 percent (1 of 13) of those people without the condition.
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 18, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- New research links the virus behind chickenpox and shingles to a blood vessel condition that afflicts the elderly and can sometimes be deadly.
The study doesn't prove that the so-called varicella zoster virus causes the condition, known as giant cell arteritis. But study author Dr. Don Gilden, a professor of neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, said the findings suggest that the standard treatment of steroids, which reduce inflammation, aren't enough on their own.
"You need to treat the virus and the inflammation that goes along with it," he said. "This is totally new."
That means patients with the condition should take antiviral medications to fight off the chickenpox virus, he added.
About 30 cases of giant cell arteritis appear in every 100,000 people each year, Gilden said, or about 300 cases in a city of one million.
By the age of 80, the condition appears in one out of 2,000 people, said Dr. Mark Moster, a professor of neurology and ophthalmology at Wills Eye Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine, in Philadelphia.
It typically strikes people over the age of 60 and causes inflamed blood vessels in the scalp, neck and arms that can lead to sudden headaches, muscle aches, visual symptoms and pain while chewing, according to the U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. In the most severe cases, the condition can lead to blindness, stroke and even death.
The researchers looked for links between the condition and the chickenpox/shingles virus because of the unusual way that it replicates in arteries, Gilden explained. The chickenpox virus remains in the body after someone gets the disease and can reappear later in life as the painful skin rash known as shingles.
In the new study, researchers examined biopsies of arteries from 95 dead people. They found signs of the chickenpox virus in 74 percent (61 of 82) of people who'd also had giant cell arteritis, but the virus was present in just 8 percent (1 of 13) of those people without the condition.