Stress can cause itching

Stress activates immune cells in mouse skin, making them feel itchy. The same mechanism can occur in humans.

Pruritus is still a mysterious phenomenon for the scientific world. Because the skin is the first "defense" against the infiltration of infectious agents, it is where white blood cells attack bacteria and viruses. However, sometimes the immune cells in the skin react excessively, leading to skin infections such as dermatitis and psoriasis.

Many studies show that stress and anxiety can cause many illnesses, from flu to cancer.

According to Dr. Petra Arck of the Berlin Medical University (Germany), stress can make skin disease worse by increasing the number of white blood cells. To test this hypothesis, Petra and his colleagues caused stress in mice and monitored their white blood cell content. Results showed that the number of leukocytes increased when mice were stressed and they ran wildly due to itching. In the next test, the team neutralized two proteins that are responsible for leukocyte-to-skin function called LFA-1 and ICAM-1. They found that the number of leukocytes was still increased when mice were in a stressful state.

"This proves that stress activates immune cells, facilitates skin diseases to develop and aggravate existing skin diseases. The same mechanism can occur in many animals, in there are people, "the team concluded.