Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Historical Background of Itch

  • Chapter
Pharmacology of Itch

Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 226))

Abstract

Itch as a disease, and especially as a symptom, was the object of medical and scientific curiosity for centuries. The reluctance of historians to focus on the history of itch relates to its nature as a subjective symptom. After all, how can historians have known what itch really felt like in previous centuries? Since the establishment of dermatology as an independent discipline of medicine in the middle of the nineteenth century, itch has become a subject of investigation in its own right. This chapter summarises research we conducted on the medical history of itch in ancient medicine and up through the twentieth century.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aretaeus (1958) De causis et signis diuturnorum morborum libri duo. In: Hude K (ed) CMG 2, 2nd edn. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Avicenna. Liber Canonis. Venice; Iuntas, 1562: 515–516

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergasa NV, Jones EA (1991) Management of the pruritus of cholestasis: potential role of opiate antagonists. Am J Gastroenterol 86:1404–1412

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernhard JD (1987) Pruritus: clinical aspects. In: Fitzpaztrick TB, Eisen AZ, Wolff K, Freedberg IM, Austen KF (eds) Dermatology in general medicine, 3rd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp 78–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernhard JD (ed) (1994) Itch: mechanisms and management of pruritus. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein JE, Swift R (1979) Relief of intractable pruritus with naloxone. Arch Dermatol 115:1366–1367

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bickford RG (1939) The fiber dissociation produced by cooling human nerves. Clin Sci 4:159

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop GH (1948) The skin as an organ of senses with special reference to the itching sensation. J Invest Dermatol 11:143–154

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bueller HA, Bernhard JD, Dubroff LM (1999) Gabapentin treatment for brachioradial pruritus. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 13:227–228

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cormia FE (1952) Experimental histamine pruritus. I. Influence of physical and psychological factors on threshold reactivity. J Invest Dermatol 19:21–34

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fjellner B, Hägermark O (1979) Pruritus in polycythemiavera: treatment with aspirin and possibility of platelet involvement. Acta Derm Venereol 59:505–512

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frank H (1928) Therapeutische Vorschläge und ätiologische Bemerkungen zum Thema Pruritus. Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 31:1297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galen (1823) De sanitate tuenda. In: Kühn CG (ed and transl) CMG 6. Knobloch, Leipzig, pp 242–244 (in Latin)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilchrest BA, Rowe JW, Brown RS et al (1977) Relief of uremic pruritus with ultraviolet phototherapy. New Engl J Med 297:136–138

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graham DT, Goodell H, Wolff HG (1951) Neural mechanisms involved in itch, itchy skin, and tickle sensations. J Clin Invest 30:37–49

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hafenreffer S. De pruritu. Nosodochium in quo cutis eique adhaerentium partium affectus omnes singulari methodo et cognoscendi et curandi fidelissime traduntur. Ulm; Kuehn, 1660, 98–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Handwerker HO, Forster C, Kirchhoff C (1991) Discharge patterns of human C-fibers induced by itching and burning stimuli. J Neurophysiol 66:307–315

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hippocrates (1988) In: Potter P (ed and transl) Affections, vol 5. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 7–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Hippocrates (1994) In: Smith WD (ed and transl). Epidemics book II-VII, vol 7. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Jadassohn J (1901) Sensibilitätsneurosen. In Damsch O, Ebstein W, Jadassohn J, et al. (eds) Krankheiten der Haut. Die sogenannten Constitutionellen Krankheiten. Krankheiten der Bewegungsorgane. Ferdinand Enke, Stuttgart

    Google Scholar 

  • Joseph M (1920) Dermatologische Ratschläge für den Praktiker. Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 9:244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paracelsus (1928) In: Aschner B (ed) Sämtliche Werke, vol 2. Fischer, Jena, pp 773–774

    Google Scholar 

  • Paulus Aegineta (1921) Epitomae medicinae libri septem Book 1–4. In: Heiberg JL (ed) CMG 9.1. Teubner, Leipzig

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmelz M, Schmidt R, Bickel A, Handwerker HO, Torebjörk HE (1997) Specific C-receptors for itch in human skin. J Neurosci 17:8003–8008

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schulz H (1990) Der Äbtissin Hildegard von Bingen Ursachen und Behandlung der Krankheiten. Karl F. Haug, Heidelberg, pp 302–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Shakespeare W (1982) In Muir K (ed) Troilus and Cressida. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1982, 2.1.882 and 2.1.980

    Google Scholar 

  • Shelley WB, Arthur RP (1955) Studies of cowhage (Mucuna pruriens) and its pruritogenic proteinase mucunian. Arch Dermatol 72:399–406

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shelley WB, Arthur RP (1957) The neurohistology and neurophysiology of the itch sensation in man. Arch Dermatol 76:296–323

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simone DA, Alreja M, LaMotte RH (1991) Psychophysical studies of the itch sensation and itchy skin (“alloknesis”) produced by intracutaneous injection of histamine. Somatosens Mot Res 8:271–297

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stoll U (1992) Das Lorscher Arzneibuch. Ein medizinisches Kompendium des 8. Jahrhunderts (Codex Bambergensis medicinalis 1). Text, Übersetzung und Fachglossar Stuttgart, Steiner

    Google Scholar 

  • Theophanes Nonnos (1794). In Bernard S (ed) Epitome de curatione morborum, vol. 2. Ettinger, Gotha

    Google Scholar 

  • Unna PG (1915) Einfacher pruritus. Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 49:1471

    Google Scholar 

  • von Frey M (1922) Zur Physiologie der Juckempfindung. Arch Neerl Physiol 7:142

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward JR, Bernhard JR (2005) Willan’s itch and other causes of pruritus in the elderly. Int J Dermatol 44:267–273

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weisshaar E, König A, Diepgen TL, Eckart WU (2008) About Itching and scabies. Pruritus in medical history—from ancient world to the French revolution. Hautarzt 59:1000–1006

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weisshaar E, Grüll V, Diepgen TL, Eckart WU (2009a) Historical aspects concerning the symptom of itch in the German-speaking region (1850–1939). Hautarzt 60:137–141

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weisshaar E, Grüll V, König A, Schweinfurth MA, Diepgen TL, Eckart WU (2009b) The symptom of itch in medical history: highlights through the centuries. Int J Dermatol 48:1385–1394

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zedler H Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon aller Wissenschafften und Künste, welche bißhero durch menschlichen Verstand und Witz erfunden und verbesset worden, vols 6, 14, 21. Akademische Druck-und Verlagsanstalt, Graz, pp 1732–1754

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Dermatology, University of Heidelberg, Thibautstrasse 3, 69115, Heidelberg, Germany

    Elke Weisshaar

  2. Institute for the History of Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Wolfgang U. Eckart

  3. University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

    Jeffrey D. Bernhard

Authors
  1. Elke Weisshaar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wolfgang U. Eckart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jeffrey D. Bernhard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elke Weisshaar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology Center for Substance Abuse Research, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Alan Cowan

  2. Department of Dermatology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadephia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Gil Yosipovitch

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Weisshaar, E., Eckart, W.U., Bernhard, J.D. (2015). Historical Background of Itch. In: Cowan, A., Yosipovitch, G. (eds) Pharmacology of Itch. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 226. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44605-8_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation