shingles

Reader's Digest 10月号の記事 "World of Medicine" から引用します。
Having shingles at a young age may increase your risk of having a stroke or heart attack, according to new research in neurology.
...
The risk wasn't as severe in patients who first had shingles at older ages.
"shingle" に「医者や弁護士などの看板」、「屋根板」、「丸石、砂利浜」などの意味があることは知っていましたが、上の引用文の意味はそれらの意味ではないのは明らかです。改めて辞書を見ると、"shingles" で次の意味になることが分かりました。
・Oxford English Dictionary: An acute, painful inflammation of the nerve ganglia, with a skin eruption often forming a girdle around the middle of the body. It is caused by the same virus as chickenpox. Also called herpes zoster.
・Collins Dictionary: (functioning as singular) an acute viral disease affecting the ganglia of certain nerves, characterized by inflammation, pain, and skin eruptions along the course of the affected nerve Technical names: herpes zoster, zoster
"shingles" で単数扱いにもなるようです。
注：以前に "shingle" を取り上げ、記録が残っているのは 5/12/2012 だけです。