Over the years, we have seen quite a number of people reporting that they suffered from shingles. Maybe this will be of interest?
Int J Infect Dis. 2017 Apr 24. pii: S1201-9712(17)30127-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2017.04.016. [Epub ahead of print]
Receipt of Thyroid Hormone Deficiency Treatment and Risk of Herpes Zoster.
Hsia SV1, Chen LH2, Tseng HF3.
Author information
1 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, Maryland 21853, USA. Electronic address: vhsia@umes.edu.
2 Department of Research & Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Research, 100 S. Los Robles Ave, 2nd Floor, Pasadena, CA 91101.
3 Department of Research & Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Research, 100 S. Los Robles Ave, 2nd Floor, Pasadena, CA 91101. Electronic address: Hung-Fu.X.Tseng@kp.org.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
Thyroid hormone (TH) has been suggested to control the herpes virus gene expression and replication in neurons via epigenetics through its nuclear receptors. Previously, we showed that hypothyroidism patients were predisposed to herpes zoster (HZ), suggesting that the TH deficiency may be a risk factor of Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV) reactivation. The aim of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that the TH treatment will ameliorate the complication of HZ.
METHODS:
The present study investigated the hypothesis by enquiring into a comprehensive medical database at Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) to verify if patients taking thyroid hormone medication would experience reduction of herpes zoster occurrence.
RESULTS:
It was shown by a Kaplan-Meier plot that hypothyroidism patients taking TH medicines had a lower risk of HZ. The fully adjusted analysis indicated that patients receiving medication for TH deficiency treatment exhibited a reduced risk of HZ (HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.51-0.71). This lower risk of HZ was significant in all age group except the 18-39 years of age cohort. In addition, female patients with TH treatment exhibited a lower risk than the male counterpart.
CONCLUSIONS:
Together these findings supported the hypothesis that a constant level of TH would provide a layer of protection from contracting HZ. More studies are underway to evaluate the lab data for an analyses of hormonal effects on individuals.
Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
KEYWORDS:
Herpes Zoster; Levothyroxin; Shingles; Varicella Zoster Virus; hypothyroidism
PMID: 28450196
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2017.04.016
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/284...
Full paper (though it is fairly short), available here: