GlaxoSmithKline GmbH & Co. KG
Munich (ots)
– June 7, 2022: Day of Action Against Pain aims to draw attention to the many different forms of physical pain
– Shingles is a disease that can lead to sometimes severe, long-lasting and even chronic pain
– Older people are particularly at risk and shingles can severely restrict everyday life due to the pain
On June 7, 2022, the annual day of action against pain will take place. Initiated by the German Pain Society eV, attention should be drawn to the topic of pain on this day. Because pain can have many forms and faces and drive those affected into complete isolation out of fear or shame. Those affected** who suffer from chronic pain often withdraw from public life. The day of action helps to give these people a voice. GSK supports this initiative and wants to raise awareness of the potential pain associated with shingles infection.
Severe pain robs quality of life
Pain or even chronic pain can be caused by many diseases. One of these painful conditions that can accompany sufferers months or even years after diagnosis is shingles. The name of the disease sounds harmless, almost melodious. But behind it hides a serious, often painful disease that can be very dangerous for those affected. With shingles, not only the skin is affected, but above all the underlying nerve fibers are inflamed. dr Michael Überall, CEO of the German Society for Pain Medicine eV, explains: “Due to the infestation of sensitive nerve cells – i.e. the nerve fibers that are responsible for registering and transmitting sensations such as pain, temperature, touch or pressure, etc. from the body are responsible via the spinal cord to the brain – acute shingles disease usually leads to severe pain that can only rarely be adequately treated with the usual means. For many sufferers, the pain caused by shingles is one of the worst experiences of their lives to date.”
The pain of shingles is perceived differently: sometimes throbbing, stabbing, cutting or paralyzing. Herpes zoster patient Pia H. describes her symptoms as follows: “I suddenly had severe, localized pain in the upper thoracic vertebrae. The pain was particularly bad at night. At first I thought I was embarrassed, but about three days after the onset of the pain in my back, the pain began to radiate down the left arm, to the front of the fingertips. This pain and swelling in the left arm lasted for over two weeks.” The quality of life of those affected can be greatly reduced by the pain. Permanent nerve damage can accompany those affected for a long time after the acute symptoms have subsided and limit everyday life enormously due to the pain. “In addition, many sufferers develop poor posture and secondary muscle pain as a result of their efforts to avoid touch-related pain attacks,” adds Dr. All over.
Age as the greatest risk factor
Especially among the older population, only a few know their personal risk of disease and even fewer know that every person who has had chickenpox already carries the shingles pathogen1. Because the pathogen, the varicella-zoster virus, remains inactive in the body after you have had chickenpox and is kept in check by the immune system. If the immune system is weakened due to age, stress or illness, the virus can be reactivated as shingles. Age is the main risk factor, as the immune system’s defenses naturally decline over the years.2 More than 95 percent of people over the age of 60 carry the virus and thus the risk of shingles.3 One in three people will become ill at some point of his life.4
Nerve pain that can stay
The itchy skin rash, whose blisters often form a belt around the body, is an acute symptom of shingles – but there are other, often chronic symptoms that can be very stressful for those affected: Up to 30% suffer serious complications such as persistent severe nerve pain , a so-called post-herpetic neuralgia.5 The associated pain can last for months or, in the worst case, lifelong and often makes normal everyday life impossible. Social isolation and depression can follow. Why, explains Dr. Everywhere: “Depressive moods and anxiety, especially through the experience of helplessness and experience with insufficiently effective therapies, in connection with the unpredictable pain attacks and sleep disorders, lead to psychological changes, which in extreme cases can end in the full picture of a traumatic stress disorder.” A possible contact point for those affected by pain is the German Pain League eV. On the website https://painliga.de as well as via the pain hotline on 069 / 20 019 019, chronic pain patients receive helpful information to improve their quality of life.
Preventing shingles: STIKO vaccination recommendation
Prevention is always better than aftercare. Vaccination can protect against shingles. The Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) recommends vaccination against shingles for all people over the age of 60 and people over 50 with underlying diseases.6 Find out from your doctor about your personal risk of becoming ill and how you can protect yourself from the pain of shingles.
About shingles
Shingles disguises itself as a skin disease, but is actually an infectious disease caused by the reactivation of the chickenpox pathogen. More than 95 percent of people age 60 and older have had chickenpox, thereby carrying the virus.3 One in three people will develop shingles at some point in their lives.4 No amount of healthy living or measures like the AHA Rules can change the situation. On the one hand, the immune system decreases with age, making reactivation more likely.2 On the other hand, those affected do not become infected, but already have the pathogen in their body and this can occur if the immune system is weakened (e.g. due to stress, COVID-19 -disease) can be reactivated. When the virus is reactivated, the previously inactive pathogens migrate from the nerve nodes along the nerve fibers to their ends on the skin’s surface. There, as a reaction, the characteristic blisters form, which wrap around the body in the form of a belt or band. Often only one side of the body is affected. Since the virus “migrates” to the skin via the nerve tracts, severe, “shooting” pain often occurs even before the typical blisters appear. Other symptoms include exhaustion, exhaustion and severe burning to stabbing nerve pain that sometimes lasts for months. Up to 30 percent of those affected have complications and long-term consequences.5 Sometimes this lasts for several months, in other cases the pain can last a lifetime. Shingles can also cause visual disturbances, complete vision and hearing loss, and in rare cases, strokes and heart attacks. More information can be found at: www.impfen.de/guertelrose
About GSK
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**Info: Gender-appropriate language: In principle, this text includes all genders.
For better readability, however, only one gender form is used – which is at the discretion of those who wrote the text.
NP-DE-HZX-PRSR-220005, May 2022
References:
1 EpiBul 5/2021.
2 Harpaz R et al., MMWR Recomm Rep. 2008;57(RR-5):1-30; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published: Aug. 2016.
3 Wutzler et al. 2001; Vaccine 20:121-124.
4 Hillebrand K; Journal of infection; 2015;70;178-186.
5 RKI (ed.): In a nutshell: Fact sheets on vaccination. herpes zoster vaccination; 2020
6 EpiBul 18/2020.
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