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Don't underestimate itchy skin

Itchy skin is often a sign of disease

By Lhasa GermanyPublished about a year ago 6 min read
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Itchy skin

It is just the turn of summer and autumn, the climate began to dry up, and many people have itchy skin-like "allergy" symptoms.

The itch is always on the inside of his body, and even scratching the outside does not stop itching.

Why does pancreatic cancer cause itchy skin?

Most patients with pancreatic cancer will have the symptom of obstructive jaundice, which is caused by the tumor blocking the extra-hepatic or antipathetic bile ducts, and jaundice caused by pancreatic cancer usually deepens continuously and progressively. Some patients may even scratch all over their bodies.

Itchy skin caused by pancreatic cancer is usually caused by jaundice, so patients with pancreatic cancer often have symptoms of jaundice when they develop itchiness, such as yellowing of the skin or the whites of their eyes. In addition, there is no recent itching of the skin, and the skin surface is not peeling or cracking, but the skin suddenly starts to itch, and the itching is felt inside the body, and the itching is not allowed to be scratched, and it is often aggressive and strongly felt.

Abnormal itchy skin is a warning of disease

Besides pancreatic cancer, many other diseases can cause abnormal itching of the skin, such as the following five diseases.

-Malignant tumor

In case of stubborn and widespread itchy skin of unknown origin, especially in the elderly, be alert to the possibility of a malignant tumor. Itchy skin caused by malignant tumors may be persistent or temporary and may manifest as limited or generalized.

Itchy skin caused by tumors may be an immune response caused by cancer cells or cell debris, or autoimmunity may cause dialysis of cells in other parts of the body to release itch-causing mediators, and the degree and duration of itchy skin are not related to the type of tumor.

For example, in patients with brain tumors, the infiltration of lesions into the fourth ventricle often causes intense and persistent itching confined to the nostrils, and limited itching often indicates tumors in the adjacent areas, such as itching in the vulva may be cervical cancer, itching around the anus may be intestinal cancer, and other malignant tumors such as stomach cancer, lung cancer, leukemia, etc. are also often preceded by itching.

Itchy skin

-Diabetes

When the body's blood sugar increases, the body's ability to defend itself against disease decreases, and the sugar content of the skin of diabetic patients also increases significantly, making it more likely to cause bacterial or fungal infections that lead to dry skin and make the nerve endings of the skin irritated causing itching.

Patients who have frequent generalized, more persistent itching without rash manifestations, or patients with certain ringworm diseases that remain untreated for a long time, should be alerted to the possibility of diabetes, and itchy skin is one of the most common precursors of diabetes, especially in middle-aged and elderly people who are more obese.

-Separability diseases

Separability diseases such as hepatitis, cholecystitis, and cirrhosis often present with prurient as a precursor, and some are accompanied by jaundice; the itching may be persistent or temporary.

According to statistics, itching occurs in 50% of patients several months or even 1-2 years before the onset of jaundice and liver function impairment, due to the deposition of harmful metabolites such as histamine and bile salts in the skin, which stimulate the nerve endings of the skin, and the itching is further aggravated after the onset of jaundice.

-Kidney disease

When the kidney is not functioning properly, some protein derivatives will be produced in the body, causing itching, and because the excretion of waste products in the body is impaired and calcium and phosphorus metabolism is disturbed, granular urea "cream" will be deposited on the surface of the skin, causing dry skin and uremic nephropathy, which makes itching worse. Antihistamine treatment is not useful for this stubborn and widespread itching, chronic nephritis. Uremia, renal failure, and other chronic kidney diseases occur in up to 86% of patients.

-Thyroid disease

Hyperthyroidism can cause the symptoms of itchy skin earlier due to hyper-metabolism and moist and sweaty skin, and it is mostly aggravated during sleep. Hypothyroidism, on the other hand, is a slow onset of itching and is accompanied by dry, flaky, pale skin.

When itchy skin occurs, many people will scratch to stop the itch, but many common practices are wrong, not only can not stop the itch but also may have serious consequences.

What should I do if my skin itches abnormally?

The most common method people use to stop the itch is to scratch hard, but people often do not control their force and may scratch the skin, the skin is scratched after the bacterial invasion of the wound is prone to occur, causing a secondary infection, and scratching will stimulate skin proliferation, promote the release of something that produces inflammation so that the skin produces inflammation, skin thickening, so after scratching the skin often becomes hypertrophy, rough, and itchier.

Some people will also use high-temperature to scald the itchy skin, thinking that this can stop the itch high-temperature water will destroy the protective layer of the skin surface, making the skin more dry, not only can not stop the itch, but also may aggravate the symptoms, and the water temperature is too high may also be scalded. So when the skin is itchy, in the end, what to do?

When itching, you can relieve the symptoms of itching by gently patting or applying cold compresses. If lesions occur, such as flaking, massive exudation, crusting, etc., the contaminated clothes and bedding should be replaced in time to keep the skin clean. You can also use anti-itch creams appropriately, but do not use hormonal drugs at will. People with severe itching should consult a doctor promptly and use drugs under the guidance of a doctor to avoid bringing about adverse reactions.

In terms of diet, foods rich in manganese can help prevent and relieve itching. Tea is not only rich in manganese and easily absorbed, wheat, spinach, and other foods contain more manganese but the absorption rate is relatively low, fish and some animal liver contain manganese easily absorbed but the content is relatively small, so you can decide to take it or not.

Although itchy skin is only a minor problem in the eyes of most people, unexplained itchy skin is often a sign of disease and requires special attention. There is also in the winter or dry weather, pay attention to skin moisturizing, reduce the use of soap and other toiletries that can dry the skin, can apply more lotion, not only to protect the skin but also to prevent itching caused by dry skin.

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Lhasa Germany

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