14 DAY TRIAL // According to the conclusions of a new scientific study conducted in the United States, it would appear that the chemical signals that make us want to scratch an itch, and also wince in pain, are the same.
In other words, the two sensations may in fact be integrated deep down, which is something researchers did not know until recently. The connection has been proposed for years, but thus far little evidence were produced to support this idea.
Investigators say that the way in which itches and pain related to each other has been a topic of research for years, and underlie that, despite the hard work, a lot of studies still remain to be performed.
Interestingly, the human skin contains dedicated itch and pain receptors, but also some that are capable of detecting both. This is why some chemicals cause both itching and pain when put on the skin.
Gaining a better understanding of how the two senses are connected is important for future studies, says University of California in Berkeley (UCB) assistant professor of molecular and cell biology Diana Bautista. She is also a pain and itch researcher at the university.
The expert says that, if the deep connection between itch and pain is really there, then this could finally mean some good news for people suffering from conditions such as intractable itches.
“Some types of itch respond to antihistamines, but most itch, especially itch associated with chronic diseases like kidney and liver failure, diabetes and cancer, does not,” the UCB expert reveals.
“Even allergic itch only partly responds to antihistamines. We’ve shown that one of the drugs now being looked at by pharmaceutical companies as a pain reliever also blocks some types of histamine-independent itch,” she goes on to say.
“It’s starting to look like many pain receptors are linked to the itch system. Both itch and pain use some of the same molecules to send signals to the brain,” Bautista explains. Details of the new study were published in the latest print issue of the top journal Nature Neuroscience.
Funding for the research came from an NIH Innovator Award provided by the US National Institutes of Health, the Pew Scholars Program, the Rita Allen Foundation, the McKnight Scholars Fund and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Bautista says that future investigations may help solve this integration mystery. However, she adds that experts still have a hard time understanding our sense of touch, let alone two extremes such as pain and itch.