Posted on 07/04/2008 9:57:35 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
WASHINGTON: US researchers reported that they may have found a way to flush out herpes viruses from hiding — offering a potential way to cure pesky and painful conditions from cold sores to shingles.
They discovered that a mysterious gene carried by the herpes simplex-1 virus — the one that causes cold sores — allows the virus to lay low in the nerves it infects.
It does so via microRNAs, little pieces of genetic material that regulate the activity of many viruses, the researchers report in the journal Nature.
It may be possible to "wake up" the virus and then kill it with standard antiviral drugs such as acyclovir, said Jennifer Lin Umbach of Duke University in North Carolina, who worked on the study. "We are trying to go into animal trials," Umbach said.
The Duke team is discussing a potential collaboration with Regulus Therapeutics LLC, a joint venture between Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc that specializes in microRNAs. Herpes viruses cause permanent infections. They head straight to nerve cells, where they stay latent for the life of an animal or person, often causing periodic outbreaks.
Herpes simplex 1 or HSV-1 causes cold sores, HSV-2 causes genital herpes, while varicella causes chicken pox and returns in middle or old age as herpes zoster to cause shingles.
Or, stop having sex outside of marriage.
Good news for Bill Clinton.
Or learn how to read articles before posting.
Bill Clinton and every Media/Hollywood slut will be excited for this news..... but they’ll still have to worry about HIV/AIDS for awhile longer......
I have had shingles before & it is incredibly painful. Shingles has nothing to do with having sex outside of marriage.
I hit a nerve, LOL.
Do you really think I said it does?
I had a friend who developed a terrible case of cold sores. They went up her nose, into her sinuses and ended up in her eye.
I also knew a man who's wife brought herpes into the marriage. Should he suffer for the rest of his life because of a lying woman?
Not every ill person did something to deserve it.
I don’t mean to attack you, but you made a blanket statement. I understand what you are talking about, but a lot of people have the misconception that all herpes is sexually transmitted, and that just isn’t true.
No, but he will, won't he - because his wife had sex outside of marriage.
Not every ill person did something to deserve it.
Can we apply some logic here.
I never said anything about shingles because shingles is not caused by sex outside of marriage.
I did not insult you or you mother.
You've obviously never had shingles... I wouldn't wish it on Michael Moore or Jimmy Carter! 5 years later, I still suffer from the after-effects of it (neuropathy). And I went through the pain of shingles for nearly 6 months.
And you don't get it through sex. If you've had chicken pox, you COULD wind up with shingles. It's the same virus. When chicken pox goes away, the virus goes dormant in the fibers surrounding the nerves in your body. At some point that virus could "wake up," and when it does, congratulations, you've got shingles. Interestingly enough, it's highly contagious, but one can't catch shingles. In the early stages, there are blisters, and the fluid is filled with the virus. And those who haven't had chicken pox can catch it (chicken pox, not shingles) from you.
It's about the most intense pain I've ever experienced, and nothing, short of heavy doses of narcotic pain killers help much.
Mark
I did not say shingles is caused by sex outside of marriage because it is not.
It is not logical to believe I said anything untrue.
Yes you did. I did not make a blanket statement because the article, which I read, clearly states:
"while varicella causes chicken pox and returns in middle or old age as herpes zoster to cause shingles."
It can't be any clearer than that.
I never said anything about shingles because shingles is not caused by sex outside of marriage.
I did not insult you or you mother.
The article refers to a possible cure for 3 different types of the herpes virus: Only 1 of the 3 is spread by sexual contact. The other 2 are spread by causal contact. So, in addition to genital herpes, they're talking about finding a possible cure for herpes simplex 1, which causes cold sores, and for chicken pox, which can later return as shingles. If they're able to cure chicken pox, thereby killing the herpes virus that causes it, there will be no outbreaks of shingles.
You're the one that brought up sex, even though only a fraction (1/3) of the diseases mentioned here is spread through sexual contact, and through no fault of their own. So of course you've pissed a bunch of people off. Don't be surprised if you get flamed for this sort of overgeneralized response.
Mark
Yes...FReepers who don't read articles and then make inane irrelevant comments like yours are a pet peeve of mine, because they make people think that FR is full of ignorant fools.
You know, Ritchie Valens died in that plane crash. Maybe I caused it.
You’re a name calling example to the liberals of the world.
You give him the herpes that affected his eyesight in the airplane???
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