Itch and pruritus: what are they, and how should itches be classified?

@article{Bernhard2005ItchAP,
  title={Itch and pruritus: what are they, and how should itches be classified?},
  author={Jeffrey D. Bernhard},
  journal={Dermatologic Therapy},
  year={2005},
  volume={18}
}
  • J. Bernhard
  • Published 1 July 2005
  • Philosophy
  • Dermatologic Therapy
ABSTRACT:  Itch and pruritus are two terms for the same thing. In this essay I will argue that casting about for a distinction between them creates only confusion. Once that matter is settled, it is still necessary to come up with a clinical classification for itches of different types. No system yet proposed, including the one that will be suggested here, is perfect. 
View on Wiley
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
52 Citations
Background Citations
10

52 Citations

Pruritus: Progress toward Pathogenesis and Treatment
TLDR
This review summarizes the updated pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies for pruritus and suggests that, apart from histamine, many mediators and signaling pathways are involved in the pathogenesis ofPruritus.
Pruritus in the elderly.
[Chronic pruritus: principals of diagnostics and therapy].
  • S. Ständer
  • Medicine
    Der Hautarzt; Zeitschrift fur Dermatologie, Venerologie, und verwandte Gebiete
  • 2007
TLDR
Application of the redefined clinical classification, newly defined clinical algorithms and inquiry of clinical characteristics of pruritus is helpful in finding the underlying disease.
[Clinical classification of chronic pruritus. Interdisciplinary consensus proposal for a diagnostic algorithm].
TLDR
The proposed clinical classification of pruritus is oriented at the clinical appearance of the patients and differentiates between disorders with or without primary or secondary skin lesions.
Evaluation of chronic pruritus in older patients
TLDR
A rational work-up adapted to the special premises and needs of geriatric patients is presented, which may facilitate the choice of suitable therapeutic regimens.
Systemic Immunosuppressants in the Treatment of Pruritus
TLDR
Itch is propagated by complex mechanisms located both peripherally and within the central nervous system, and traditional systemic treatments have limited efficacy and new options are emerging slowly.
Delusional Infestation and Chronic Pruritus: A Review.
  • L. Kimsey
  • Medicine, Psychology
    Acta dermato-venereologica
  • 2016
TLDR
The principle difference between diagnoses of chronic pruritus and delusional infestation appears to lie in the patient's interpretation of the cause of the symptoms, rather than underlying physiological differences.
Pruritus as a leading symptom: clinical characteristics and quality of life in German and Ugandan patients
Background  Pruritus is the most frequent and distressing symptom associated with dermatoses and various internal and neurological diseases.
Chronic pruritus: clinics and treatment.
TLDR
New insights into the underlying pathogenesis ofPruritus have enabled novel treatment approaches that target the pruritus-specific pathophysiological mechanism, and for example, neurokinin-1 antagonists have been found to relieve chronic Pruritus.
Postburn pruritus: A practical review
TLDR
Current evidence supports the use of gabapentin/pregabalin in patients with moderate to severe postburn pruritus as the first line, even if as an "off label" indication.
...
...

References

SHOWING 1-9 OF 9 REFERENCES
Itch: Mechanisms and Management of Pruritus
TLDR
This book is a practical guide to the variety of underlying causes and a comprehensive review of relevant treatments of itching, with systematic coverage of virtually all conditions, common and rare, which can evoke itching.
Willan's itch and other causes of pruritus in the elderly
TLDR
The diagnosis of Willan's itch should be reserved for generalized pruritus in the absence of xerosis or other recognizable cause, and it is suggested that gabapentin, cutaneous field stimulation, serotonin antagonists, and ultraviolet B phototherapy may attenuate itch in some of these patients.
How should we define itching?
  • J. Savin
  • Philosophy
    Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
  • 1998
Johnson's Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, and Boswell's Journal of a tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D.
Samuel Johnson and James Boswell spent the autumn of 1773 touring the Highlands and Western Islands of Scotland. Detailed notes of their individual impressions are now published in this volume.…
Quiddities: an intermittently philosophical dictionary
Toward clarity and grace
  • 1990
On the dysspelling of pruritus
  • Fitz J Cl Dermatol 1994:
  • 1994
Itchy papular eruptions
  • Bernhard JD, ed. Itch: mechanisms and management of pruritus. New York: McGraw-Hill,
  • 1994
An intermittently philosophical dictionary
  • 1987