Re: itching info.not heloful

[Guest guest]

Really interesting -- and discouraging, for those with itching. Thanks for

sending it.

Harper

[ ] itching info.not heloful

The cause (etiology and pathogenesis) of itching remains unclear. The bile

acids, as previously mentioned, normally are transported in bile from the liver,

through the bile ducts, to the intestine. Most of the bile acids are then

reabsorbed in the intestine and go back to the liver for reprocessing and

recycling. In cholestasis, therefore, the bile acids back up from the

liver, accumulate in the blood, and, for some years, were presumed to be

the cause of the itching. Modern studies, however, have just about refuted the

notion that the itching in PBC and other cholestatic liver diseases is caused by

bile acids.

Recently, the itching was considered (postulated) to be due to accumulation of

an endorphin, a natural substance that attaches (binds) to the natural receptors

(acceptors) for morphine in nerves. You see, nerves in the skin carry the

sensation of itching. Indeed, the finding that itching improved in some people

treated with drugs that block the binding of morphine or endorphins to nerves

supported this consideration. Yet, many patients do not respond to these

blocking drugs, suggesting that other causes or mechanisms are involved in

producing itching.

http://www.medicinenet.com/primary_biliary_cirrhosis/page8.htm