Itch: Basic Mechanisms and Therapy / Edition 1

by Gil Yosipovitch, Malcolm W. Greaves, Alan B. Fleischer, Jr., Francis McGlone

Overview

Offering details on the pharmacology of itch, techniques of itch evaluation, and neurogenic itch, this reference presents new concepts in the neurophysiology and central mechanisms of itch, animal models of itch, and processing of histamine itch in the human cerebral cortex. The text clarifies itch in systemic and skin disease, exploring renal itch, uremic pruritus, lichen amyloidosis and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780824747473
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/06/2004
Series:	Basic and Clinical Dermatology , #27
Pages:	418
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Gil Yosipovitch, Malcolm W. Greaves, Jr. Fleischer, Francis McGlone

Table of Contents

Itch Definitions, Gil Yosipovitch and Malcolm Greaves; Neurophysiologic Basis of Itch, Martin Schmelz and Herman O. Handwerker; Pain and Itch, Martin Schmelze and Herman O. Handwerker; Central Neural Mechanisms of Itch, David Andrew and Bud A. D. Craig; Animal Models of Itch - Scratching Away at the Problem, Earl Carstens and Yasushi Kiraishi; Histamine-Induced Discriminative and Affective Response Revealed by Functional MRI, Francis McGlone, Roman Rukweid, Matt Howard, and David Hitchcock; Central Nervous System Imaging of Itch with PET, Ulf Darsow, Alexander Drzezga and Johannes Ring; Skin Nerve Anatomy - Neuropeptide Distribution and its Relationship to Itch, Dieter Metze; Substance P and Itch, Tsugunobu Andoh and Yasushu Kiraishi; Peripheral Opiate Receptor System in Human Epidermis and Itch. P.L. Bigliardi and M. Bigliardi-Qi; Antipruritic Activity of a Novel K-Opioid Agonist TRK-820, Jun Utsumi, Yuko Togashi, Hideo Umeuchi, Kiyoshi Okano, Toshiaki Tanaka and Hiroshi Nagase; Putative Role of Cannabinoids in Experimentally Induced Itch and Inflammation in Human Skin, Roman Rukwied, Melitta Dvorak, Allan Watkinson and Francis McGlone; Itch Models in Animals, Jens Schiersing Thomsen; Human Itch Models with Special Emphasis on Itch in SLS-Inflamed and Normal Skin, Jens Schiersing Thomsen; Microdialysis in Itch Research, Martin Schmelz.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Patricia Wong, MD (Private Practice)
Description: The current research on the pathophysiology of pruritus is covered thoroughly in this book. The mechanisms of itch are complicated and are not apparently the same for all diseases. The authors devote a different chapter to each disease state associated with itching: uremia, cholestasis, systemic illness, atopic dermatitis, drugs etc. I was intrigued by the neuroimmunology pathways modulated itch secondary to xerosis. The book clears up a lot of mysteries on the subject and helps one choose a treatment plan that makes sense scientifically, beyond merely instructing the patient to moisturize.
Purpose: The purpose of the book is to provide a comprehensive review of the neurophysiology of itch, how to measure itch, and how to use opioid receptor antagonists and 5-HT3 receptor antagonists in management.
Audience: The audience is dermatologists and researchers involved in pruritus.
Features: This is a terrific discussion of the neurochemical mechanisms for itch and if you really want to try to understand this, this is the book to read. You will be surprised at the amount of information that is known about the subject and how it will change your diagnosis and treatment of these often frustratingly difficult patients. I don't see this as an actual shortcoming of the book, but it is possible the medications described in the book will be not covered by insurance carriers, which will prohibit their use because they are traditionally used in a hospital setting and not for pruritus.
Assessment: I am not aware of any similar book. The clinician may also want to read The Clinical Management of Itching by Fleischer (Parthenon, 2000), which complements this book but does not contain the same information. This is a very useful book.

Doody's Review Service

"…useful not only for dermatologists and non dermatologists who treat itching, but also for neurophysiologists, pharmacologists, and all the medical and chemical community interested in Cosmetic Dermatology."
-Journal of Applied Cosmetology

From the Publisher

4 Stars! from Doody