St. Louis is one of 10 sites involved in the study of the drug, called gabapentin. The drug originally was developed as a treatment for epilepsy. It helps prevent seizures, but in preliminary studies, it also appears to help ease the pain that follows shingles.
Shingles is an inflammation of nerves in the arms, legs, chest or elsewhere.
The virus that causes the childhood disease chicken pox also causes shingles. About 20 percent to 30 percent of people older than 60 suffer from shingles, and half of those develop postherpetic neuralgia. In patients older than 70, about three-fourths suffer from the severe pain. And once patients pass 70, most have other medical problems. Volunteers for the study must be 18 or older and have had pain from postherpetic neuralgia for more than three months after a shingles rash has healed.