Acute Itching in Eczema Patients Linked to Environmental Allergens Details 15 January 2021
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In addition to a skin rash, many eczema sufferers also experience chronic itching, but sometimes that itching can become torturous.
In addition to a skin rash, many eczema sufferers also experience chronic itching, but sometimes that itching can become torturous. Worse, antihistamines the standard treatment for itching and allergy often don’t help.
New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that allergens in the environment often are to blame for episodes of acute itch in eczema patients, and that the itching often doesn’t respond to antihistamines because the itch signals are being carried to the brain along a previously unrecognized pathway that current drugs don’t target.
Illustration by Madison Mack
Research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that cells in the blood called basophils (brown in illustration) can react to allergens (round honeycomb shapes) in the environment and send itch signals to nerve cells, leading to episodes of severe itch in eczema patients that can t be treated by antihistamines.
In addition to a skin rash, many eczema sufferers also experience chronic itching, but sometimes that itching can become torturous. Worse, antihistamines the standard treatment for itching and allergy often don’t help.
New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that allergens in the environment often are to blame for episodes of acute itch in eczema patients, and that the itching often doesn’t respond to antihistamines because the itch signals are being carried to the brain along a previously unrecognized pathway that current drugs don’t target.