{"id":226,"date":"2016-03-23T14:38:11","date_gmt":"2011-03-23T14:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edrugstore.md\/blog\/?p=226"},"modified":"2011-03-24T14:35:22","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T14:35:22","slug":"new-itch-center-l0323","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/current-health-news\/new-itch-center-l0323\/","title":{"rendered":"A new center specifically to study itch?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>There are heart clinics, drug rehabilitation facilities and cancer centers.\u00a0 The list of health specific facilities goes on and on, but this is a new one.\u00a0 Doctors plan to open a new clinic in St. Louis specifically to study itch. It\u2019s believed to be the world\u2019s first center designed to understand and treat itch.<\/p>\n

Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine say they want to identify the genes that cause a person to itch.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Whether an allergic reaction causes someone to scratch, or a disease, doctors opening this state of the art facility want to know why.<\/p>\n

For patients like Barb Selman, this new center could mean a new solution to her random itching.\u00a0 \u201cMy skin breaks out in hives with no warning or reason,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve been to countless allergists, been through multiple tests, but no one has the answer to my problem.\u201d\u00a0 Selman takes an antihistamine which lessens the itching sensation, but that\u2019s all.\u00a0 In time, typically over the course on an hour, the hives just go away.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Doctors opening the facility say itching is often overlooked in patients like Selman.\u00a0 It\u2019s thought of as nothing more than an irritating side effect.\u00a0 Many doctors believe itching is the body\u2019s way of dealing with some sort of pain, but at least one doctor doesn\u2019t think that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n

Zhou-Feng Chen, one of the doctors setting up the Itch Center, believes pain and itch are not connected.\u00a0 In fact, he\u2019s discovered that itch and pain send signals to the brain differently, suggesting the two are separate problems.<\/p>\n

The Itch Center will staff three doctors, and will offer educational opportunities as its research grows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are heart clinics, drug rehabilitation facilities and cancer centers.\u00a0 The list of health specific facilities goes on and on, but this is a new one.\u00a0 Doctors plan to open a new clinic in St. Louis specifically to study itch. It\u2019s believed to be the world\u2019s first center designed to understand and treat itch. Researchers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-health-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t