Skin allergy. Itchy hands with scabies. Dermatology problem eczema; Shutterstock ID 1121658809
Why is itching contagious? Why do we keep scratching ourselves, beyond when it helps? Scientists are still unravelling the head-scratcher of itching — from how hard we scratch the skin to neurons in the brain that could explain what's going on.Chronic itching can have a big impact on someone's quality of life, but in many ways is poorly understood. Scientists are tackling the head-scratcher of why we itch from a number of angles.
For kidney recipient Candice Coghlan, relief from itching during dialysis treatment came after her mother donated the organ to her. Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis, a dermatologist in Regina, says atopic dermatitis or eczema is often misunderstood. Padmanabha said the intensity of stratching is an important metric for how much an itch is disrupting someone's life, but researchers haven't looked at it much.
Akhil Padmanabha is a PhD student inspired by his personal struggle with chronic itch to invent a sensor to objectively measure scratching intensity. Until then, Padmanabha is trying to subjectively figure out why his own symptoms fluctuate as the weather, diet and other factors change.Medical researchers are finding clues to other key mysteries of itch, like contagiousness. Just seeing someone scratching can be enough to trigger the same behaviour in people.
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