Feeling an itch is a universal quality shared by many animals. Scratch at it, and it feels good to get rid of that itch!

P.S. If you didn't know the itch was a mystery, then that proves how mysterious the itch really is! :P

The itch usually helps us to survive in some way. We learn to avoid threats, like mosquitoes that can carry disease, or from plants that can damage us internally far worse than externally, like poison ivy. Itch! Pay attention... or maybe not. It's not always something important for survival that is creating an itch, but it's still annoying.

Sometimes it's a reaction to something, like a bite, but sometimes we can get an itch because we see someone else scratch. And for others, it's more serious and related to untreatable nerve issues.

It's a problematic issues to treat, but Diana Bautista from UCBerkeley is a biologist who studies the knowledge of the itch to help us understand more of how this works. Recent research has discovered new kinds of receptors in the skin and spinal cord that relate to the infamous itch.

Itch is like touch, temperature and pain, involving connections from the cells to the brain. Most over the counter drugs try to treat the pain signals with an antihistamine but they miss the target for itching sufferers. Not all anti-inflammatory reaction. Chronic itch can happen from other issues, like cancer, multiple sclerosis, eczema, nerve damage, kidney disease, or taking opioid prescriptions.

A reason a scratch will immediately relieve an itch is because the scratching sensory pain is stronger and overrides the itch sense, which gives us the relief of one type of pain by having another type of pain. The body processes the scratch as more urgent, and inhibitory interneurons halt signal traffic from the itch and fast-track the signal from the scratch. Rubbing can also detract from the itch signals, and so, there is no need to turn your skin red and tear away at it any longer.

Brain imaging shows that itch relates to pain sense areas in he brain, but also to the precuneus, involved in visual processing and memory. Researchers don't know what it does for the itch, but they do know it's only for the itch, and not in regular pain signals.

When one signal is used to distract from another, it feels good. If one has a high level itch, then a high level scratch will make them feel good. This has people scratch, more and harder, to the point of damaging their own bodies. Feeling is driving them to act. Then this develops into habit to relieve chronic pain, and is subsequently hard to break.

Understanding the itch is complicated, because there are different types. Each activates different nerve cells and brain circuits. Treatments are being developed based on the current knowledge, but the psychological dimension needs to be addressed in many cases. Stress not only affects us with cortisol and our heart-rate, but also has a factor in those who suffer daily with the condition of a constant itch. Understanding why the itch is happneing can help them understand and overcome psychological suffering and constant scratching to the point of injuring the skin.

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[Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Rreferences: 1, 2,3 , 4]

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Thank you for your time and attention! I appreciate the knowledge reaching more people. Take care. Peace.

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@krnel
2016-11-29, 7:07am