Why are you feeling good when you put itchy place, the mystery of many years will be elucidated

Even the baby knows that it is pleasant to itch and it is thought that it is from prehistoric that various animals have been itching it before the birth of humanity, why itchiness is farther away Unexpectedly this mechanism has not been elucidated until now. The long-standing mystery has become clear for the first time through research at the University of Minnesota.

It may be a good news for those who suffer from chronic itching due to diabetes, liver disease, side effects of anticancer drugs, etc., as a discovery that leads to revolutionary new medicine and itch therapy.

Details are as below.Why a good scratch quells an itch - health - 06 April 2009 - New Scientist

Scientists solve the mystery of why scratching relieves an itch | Mail Online

Research by Dr. Glenn Giesler of University of Minnesota et al. And others, etc., itchy itch, itch communicatesNerve cellThe activity of the brain was suppressed, and the mechanism that the brain judged as "it does not itch" was elucidated.

Physical irritation to the skin andhistamineIn response to chemical substances such as sensory nerves on the spinal cord thalamic tract (throat shiso shoot:Spinothalamic tract(STT)) By sending a signal to the brain via human, it feels itchy.

To identify the neurons that are suppressed by "kaku" among the nerve cells that transmit its itch, Dr. Giesler and colleagues implanted electrodes in the spinal tract of monkeys and then injected histamine into the legs. I did it. STT neurons responded to histamine and signaled, but "kaku" reduced the frequency of signaling in some of these nerve cells. In other words, it is a nerve cell that responded to these "kaku", and if human nerve cells corresponding to these nerve cells are identified and the mechanism by which the nervous system blocks that nerve cell is elucidated, drugs and electrical stimulation It will lead to the development of a therapy that suppresses the activity of that nerve cell and suppresses "itch".

"Itching" tends to be neglected compared to "pain" etc, and for healthy people it may be a problem that can be cleared up as saying "you should just stop marketing itchy stops", "I can put up with it," "Kabukaii" However, diseases of the kidney and liver, AIDS andHodgkin's lymphomaThere is not enough effect with intense itching such as regular itching and antihistamine in this way it causes the skin to become dreadful and the risk of infection increases and the insomnia caused by itching leads to a decrease in physical fitness and causes death It also leads to hastening, which is serious for the patient. Some analgesics administered to cancer patients also cause severe itching as a side effect, and in some cases it is inevitable to reduce the dose without being able to endure itching.

With the results of this research, the expectation is growing for the development of a treatment that can obtain the effect of itching far away as if it had scratched its itchy part without thinking.