Shingles: The Mystery of Pain

For a long time, people could tell that there was some connection between chickenpox and shingles. But exactly how they were related was a mystery. Then, in the 1950s, a family doctor shipped out to a remote Scottish island to investigate an outbreak, and made a discovery that shaped our understanding of shingles. On today's show, Ann Arvin, professor emerita at Stanford Medical School, tells us that detective story. Then Robert Johnson of the University of Bristol explains what he's learned about treating pain in his decades working with shingles patients.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Om Podcasten

Incubation is a show about how viruses attack people – and how people fight back. This season, we talk to a scientist who fought the spread of Ebola while risking his life. We learn how a ubiquitous virus causes cancer and multiple sclerosis. And we hear how a mosquito-borne virus helped defend an empire. Stories of discovery, heartbreak, and heroic nerds drop weekly on Thursdays starting October 17th.