Pruritus: an overview. What drives people to scratch an itch?
نویسندگان
چکیده
Pruritus is a common complaint associated with many conditions. It negatively impacts sleep, quality of life, and mortality. Itch is transmitted along both histaminergic and non-histaminergic pathways with a complex interplay between keratinocytes, immune cells and cutaneous neurons. Individuals who present with pruritus should undergo a thorough assessment, especially those over 65 years old, to exclude underlying malignancy. Treatment no longer consists of antihistamines alone. Physicians now have an array of therapies in their armamentarium, to help alleviate this distressing symptom.
منابع مشابه
Contagious itch: what we know and what we would like to know
All humans experience itch in the course of their life. Even a discussion on the topic of itch or seeing people scratch can evoke the desire to scratch. These events are coined "contagious itch" and are very common. We and others have shown that videos showing people scratching and pictures of affected skin or insects can induce itch in healthy persons and chronic itch patients. In our studies,...
متن کاملReferred itch (Mitempfindungen).
About one person in four or five is conscious that scratching an irritation may produce an itch elsewhere. The sensation is well localised, comes and goes quickly, and recurs when scratching is repeated a short while later. Scratch and referred itch are ipsilateral; scratching the site of the referred itch does not cause the original spot to itch. Scatching face, palms, or soles does not produc...
متن کاملChronic pruritus management: a plea for improvement--can itch clinics be an option?
with occasional occurrence of the symptom, pointing to chronicity as affecting severity (a phenomenon similar to what has been observed in people with chronic pain) [3, 4] . About half of the people suffering from pruritus had never sought medical advice for their symptom. There is an obvious need for patient education and for improvement in treatment options. The establishment of itch clinics ...
متن کاملAn Itch To Be Scratched
The description of itch (formally known as pruritus) as an "unpleasant sensation that elicits the desire or reflex to scratch" (Ikoma et al., 2006) is immediately familiar. Research in the field of pruritoception has added to our understanding of this area of sensory neurobiology as it pertains to both normal and pathological conditions. In particular, much progress has been made on the mechani...
متن کاملPruritus assessment in clinical trials: consensus recommendations from the International Forum for the Study of Itch (IFSI) Special Interest Group Scoring Itch in Clinical Trials.
Chronic pruritus is a common symptom and there is an urgent need to test new anti-pruritic substances in high-quality clinical trials. However, no widely accepted standardized and validated method for objectively measuring pruritus is yet available. A special interest group of the International Forum for the Study of Itch has been established to assess scoring methods and questionnaires for use...
متن کامل