For those who know little about Herpes, the confusion over types and strains of the virus can be overwhelming and the information tedious to scour. The abundance of resources dedicated to reputable medical research and FDA-approved medicines often become interspersed with ads promising “cures.” It is this mélange of information that can often serve to disorient and mislead consumers.
The Herpes Simplex Virus
Herpes Simplex Virus, or HSV, is separated into two different Types: Type 1 and Type 2. Typically we tend to think of Type 1 herpes in the form of a fever blister or cold sore, whereas Type 2 we associate with genital herpes. Herpes has been a part of the human condition ever since the Greeks first named it. Understanding the characteristics of the virus allows physicians and those suffering outbreaks to deal with the symptoms.
Armed with some powerful prescription medications, physicians can plan an effective drug therapy treatment, especially of Type 2, or genital herpes. Suppressive drug therapy for those chronically suffering genital outbreaks can effectively control not only the length and severity, but frequency of outbreaks. Control, such as this, can empower patients who suffer from social stress, frustration, and even depression.
Herpes Zoster, or Shingles
It is interesting to note that anyone who has ever had chickenpox—the majority of the adult population—holds the herpes zoster virus deep in their DNA and residing, dormant, in spinal nerve bundles. Herpes Zoster, otherwise known as “shingles,” primarily afflicts aging adults, a reaction to their eroding immune systems. But not all people are affected. Who and why are still questions that plague researchers.
Shingles is often treated with some of the same prescription medications used to treat HSV.
Current State of the Diseases
Researchers continue to persevere in the drug treatment therapies, perfecting them, observing their reaction on both the HSV and the herpes zoster virus. Newer and more expedient drugs are arriving on the market as quickly as they can be approved. And there are a plenitude of alternative options—from herbal and botanical topicals, to nutrition and health management, to physical therapies such as acupuncture and oxygen therapy.
Because both HSV and shingles are DNA-based, neurological afflictions, and they can be so socially stigmatizing as to lead to depressive and social disorders, many different branches of medicine have a stake in research: family medicine, neurology, immunology, and psychology, to name just a few.
