Suffering from asthma? It may increase your risk of
painful skin rash
People with asthma may
be at increased risk of shingles, a common form of painful skin rash caused by
the varicella zoster virus, says a new study. ‘The effect of asthma on the risk
of infection or immune dysfunction might very well go beyond the airways,’ said
lead author Young Juhn, general academic pediatrician and asthma epidemiologist
at the Mayo Clinic Children’s Research Centre in Rochester, US. Medical records
for potential patients with shingles, also known as herpes zoster, were
reviewed in Olmsted County, Minnesota, where 371 cases with shingles — age 67
on average — were identified during the study period and compared against 742
control subjects. Of the 371 shingles cases, 23 percent (87 individuals) had
asthma, compared with 15 percent (114 of 742) from the control group.
The authors found that adults with asthma were at about a
70 percent greater risk of developing shingles, compared to those without
asthma. The researchers also noted that both asthma and atopic dermatitis were
found to be independently associated with a higher risk of shingles.
Researchers believe that, because asthma helps suppress adaptive immunity, it
may increase the risk of varicella zoster virus reactivation. ‘As asthma is an
unrecognised risk factor for zoster in adults, consideration should be given to
immunising adults aged 50 years and older with asthma or atopic dermatitis as a
target group for zoster vaccination,’ Juhn noted. The researchers note that
neither inhaled corticosteroids nor vaccinations were associated with a higher
risk of shingles.
The findings appeared in the Journal of Allergy
and Clinical Immunology.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
30.12.2015
Don't wait
for extraordinary circumstance to do good; try to use ordinary situations
Charles Richter
No comments:
Post a Comment