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April 11, 2008

Strange But True!

Q. How bad can the “chronic itching syndrome” get?

A. This is actually surprisingly widespread, affecting hundreds of millions worldwide, for scabies, eczema, kidney or liver disease, HIV, infectious illnesses, drug reactions, says Greg Miller in the journal “Science.” For reasons not well understood, itching can occur over large swaths of the body or be concentrated on the face, back, etc. And when it strikes, it can increase mortality rates, probably due to severe sleep loss. One grisly case involved a Bostonian after a shingles outbreak: Her rash cleared up but not the itch, which led her to scratch so much that emergency room doctors discovered brain tissue protruding through a hole she had worn in her skull!


 
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