Non-dermatological Challenges of Chronic Itch

Chronic itch occurs in many skin diseases, but also in a variety of systemic, neurological, and psychogenic/psychosomatic disorders, or is caused by drug intake. When several diseases or causes co-exist, chronic itch is categorized as “mixed origin”. These patients present with unaltered skin or wit...

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Autores principales: KREMER, Andreas E., METTANG, Thomas, WEISSHAAR, Elke
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Society for Publication of Acta Dermato-Venereologica 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9128973/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31940045
http://dx.doi.org/10.2340/00015555-3345
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author KREMER, Andreas E.
METTANG, Thomas
WEISSHAAR, Elke
author_facet KREMER, Andreas E.
METTANG, Thomas
WEISSHAAR, Elke
author_sort KREMER, Andreas E.
collection PubMed
description Chronic itch occurs in many skin diseases, but also in a variety of systemic, neurological, and psychogenic/psychosomatic disorders, or is caused by drug intake. When several diseases or causes co-exist, chronic itch is categorized as “mixed origin”. These patients present with unaltered skin or with chronic scratch lesions including chronic prurigo. Precise diagnostics are necessary to evaluate the underlying aetiology, to enable identification of the best treatment available, and to improve patients’ quality of life. This is of particular relevance in elderly people in whom chronic itch is often of systemic or mixed origin. Xerosis cutis is a frequent cofactor contributing to chronic itch of non-dermatological origin. Treatment is frequently multimodal, considering age, comorbidities, current drug intake, quality and intensity of itch. With regard to the demographic situation of the population, characterized by increasing life expectancy and polypharmacy, itch of non-dermatological origin will represent an increasing medical challenge in the future.
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spelling pubmed-91289732022-10-20 Non-dermatological Challenges of Chronic Itch KREMER, Andreas E. METTANG, Thomas WEISSHAAR, Elke Acta Derm Venereol Review Article Chronic itch occurs in many skin diseases, but also in a variety of systemic, neurological, and psychogenic/psychosomatic disorders, or is caused by drug intake. When several diseases or causes co-exist, chronic itch is categorized as “mixed origin”. These patients present with unaltered skin or with chronic scratch lesions including chronic prurigo. Precise diagnostics are necessary to evaluate the underlying aetiology, to enable identification of the best treatment available, and to improve patients’ quality of life. This is of particular relevance in elderly people in whom chronic itch is often of systemic or mixed origin. Xerosis cutis is a frequent cofactor contributing to chronic itch of non-dermatological origin. Treatment is frequently multimodal, considering age, comorbidities, current drug intake, quality and intensity of itch. With regard to the demographic situation of the population, characterized by increasing life expectancy and polypharmacy, itch of non-dermatological origin will represent an increasing medical challenge in the future. Society for Publication of Acta Dermato-Venereologica 2020-01-09 /pmc/articles/PMC9128973/ /pubmed/31940045 http://dx.doi.org/10.2340/00015555-3345 Text en © 2020 Acta Dermato-Venereologica https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license
spellingShingle Review Article
KREMER, Andreas E.
METTANG, Thomas
WEISSHAAR, Elke
Non-dermatological Challenges of Chronic Itch
title Non-dermatological Challenges of Chronic Itch
title_full Non-dermatological Challenges of Chronic Itch
title_fullStr Non-dermatological Challenges of Chronic Itch
title_full_unstemmed Non-dermatological Challenges of Chronic Itch
title_short Non-dermatological Challenges of Chronic Itch
title_sort non-dermatological challenges of chronic itch
topic Review Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9128973/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31940045
http://dx.doi.org/10.2340/00015555-3345
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