My golf buddy recently got shingles. I didn't know what it was. It turns out, most people don't know about shingles unless they know someone who has had shingles, or they develop it themselves. Shingles, a disease caused by the same virus as chickenpox, affects roughly one million Americans each year.

Shingles is nasty and very painful.The first signs of shingles may not be visually noticeable. People often experience tingling, burning, itching or pain. During the first few days of symptoms, fluid-filled blisters will break out in a rash, usually on one side of the body or face. Patients are usually given analgesics along with antiviral medications for treatment. If possible, treatment should begin within 72 hours of the onset of symptoms. The rash is often painful and will heal in two to four weeks, in most people.

After a person gets the chickenpox, most often during childhood, the inactivated virus can live on in certain nerve cells in the body. In healthy people, the body's immune system usually keeps the virus at bay. As people age or their immune system becomes compromised, the virus can reactivate and result in shingles. Thus the risk of shingles increases with age. One out of two people who live to the age of 85 will have had shingles.