Health problem for Simona Ventura, forced yesterday to host the Citofonare Rai 2 broadcast with half her face blocked. “It’s a facial paresis due to the seventh, but I’m improving, I’m taking care of myself, I just really need to rest”, was her explanation in an interview with Il Giornale. To shed light on the situation, he spoke to Mauro Porta, head of Neurology at the Galeazzi-Sant’Ambrogio Hospital in Milan: the problem is often caused by the Herpes Zoster virus which infects the nerve roots. “Temperature changes facilitate the attack of this virus which then travels around the body and attacks the right or left facial nerve. It is not a picture of serious paralysis, but the inflammation can last a few months and the recovery of facial expressions is progressive”, the expert’s explanations.
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But how do you cure a problem like Ventura’s? “With high doses of cortisone – replies Porta – and with an antiherpetic to eliminate inflammation and avoid permanent lesions. But to prevent this type of pathology it is important to make the Herpes Zoster vaccine available free of charge after the age of 65″. Paresis is certainly not something to be underestimated: “Neurological tests must always be carried out because unfortunately it can be symptomatic of multiple sclerosis and at that point surgical intervention must be performed. The other option of paresis – the professor comments on the damage to the facial nerve, the seventh cranial nerve that reaches from the skull to the ear and face – can be linked to a stroke that affects half the face, especially the lower one”.
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