Papers of the Week

Itch is a topic to which everyone can relate. The physiologic roles of itch are increasingly understood and appreciated. The pathophysiologic consequences of itch impact quality of life as much as pain. These dynamics have led to increasingly deep dives into the mechanisms that underlie and contribute to the sensation of itch. When the prior review on the Physiology of Itching was published in this journal, in 1941, itch was a black box of interest to a small number of neuroscientists and dermatologists. Itch is now appreciated as a complex and colorful Rubik's cube. Acute and chronic itch are being carefully scratched apart and reassembled by puzzle solvers across the biomedical spectrum. Mediators are being identified. Mechanisms blur boundaries of the circuitry that blend neuroscience and immunology. Measures involve psychophysics and behavioral psychology. The efforts associated with these approaches is positively impacting the care of itchy patients. There is now the potential to markedly alleviate itch, a condition that does not end life, but often ruins it. We review the itch field and provide a current understanding of the pathophysiology of itch. Itch is a disease, not only a symptom of disease.