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Itch

{{{Name|Itch}}}
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}} An itch (Latin: pruritus) is a sensationfelt on an area of skinthat makes a person or animal want to scratchit. It is a distressing symptom that can cause discomfort. Scratching may cause breaks in the skin that may result in infection. Pruritus can be related to anything from dry skin to undiagnosed cancer.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

  • 1 Mechanism
  • 2 Causes
  • 3 Treatment
  • 4 References
  • 5 External links

Mechanism

The central chemical in itch is histamine, a molecule released by mast cellsin the skin. Histamine is the chemical that causes the itch and reddening when bitten by insects. It binds to local nerve endings on specific receptors.

Itch from cutaneous (skin-related) stimuli, such as movement of small hairson the body, is transmitted along the same pathway as pain. Itch caused by histamineis transmitted to the brainby a different neural pathway, described in 2001by Andrew et al. As with pain, histamine-induced itch travels via the spinothalamic tract, but in fibres specific for itch.

Causes

The feeling of itchiness can be caused by movement of hairs or release of a chemical (histamine) from cells under the skin. Itchiness is regarded as protective, as it helps creatures remove parasites that land on them.

Other causes for itching can be:

  • Skin conditions(such as psoriasis, eczema, sunburnand many others). Most are of inflammatory nature.
  • Jaundice(bilirubinis a skin irritant at high concentrations)
  • Infection with liceor worms
  • Medication:
    • Allergy
    • Photodermatitis- (sun)light reacts with chemicals in the skin, leading to the formation of irritant metabolites
    • Directly (e.g. morphine)

Treatment

Itching can be treated directly with an antipruriticor the use of a back scratcher.

References

  • Andrew D, Craig AD (2001). Spinothalamic lamina I neurons selectively sensitive to histamine: a central neural pathway for itch. Nature Neuroscience Jan;4(1):9-10.
  • National Cancer Institute (2003)"Pruritus"Retrieved Aug. 22, 2005.

External links

  • GPnotebook168165389
  • FPnotebookDER266de:Juckreiz

fr:Prurit io:Prurito nl:Jeuk (prikkel)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/Itch"



This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itch Wikipedia article Itch.

 
  All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License