There are heart clinics, drug rehabilitation facilities and cancer centers. The list of health specific facilities goes on and on, but this is a new one. Doctors plan to open a new clinic in St. Louis specifically to study itch. It’s believed to be the world’s first center designed to understand and treat itch.
Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine say they want to identify the genes that cause a person to itch. There are patients that suffer with chronic itch, like those dealing with liver and kidney disease and in many of those cases an over-the- counter antihistamine will not stop the sensation. Whether an allergic reaction causes someone to scratch, or a disease, doctors opening this state of the art facility want to know why.
For patients like Barb Selman, this new center could mean a new solution to her random itching. “My skin breaks out in hives with no warning or reason,” she said. “I’ve been to countless allergists, been through multiple tests, but no one has the answer to my problem.” Selman takes an antihistamine which lessens the itching sensation, but that’s all. In time, typically over the course on an hour, the hives just go away.
Doctors opening the facility say itching is often overlooked in patients like Selman. It’s thought of as nothing more than an irritating side effect. Many doctors believe itching is the body’s way of dealing with some sort of pain, but at least one doctor doesn’t think that’s the case.
Zhou-Feng Chen, one of the doctors setting up the Itch Center, believes pain and itch are not connected. In fact, he’s discovered that itch and pain send signals to the brain differently, suggesting the two are separate problems.
The Itch Center will staff three doctors, and will offer educational opportunities as its research grows.
