{"id":36297,"date":"2023-11-22T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fe251a33-bc6e-4d47-98f8-ead9141b134a"},"modified":"2023-11-22T18:47:26","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T17:47:26","slug":"scientists-finally-work-out-what-causes-itching-and-its-grosser-than-youd-think","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/scientists-finally-work-out-what-causes-itching-and-its-grosser-than-youd-think\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists finally work out what causes itching \u2013 and it\u2019s grosser than you’d think"},"content":{"rendered":"

POV: You\u2019re reading an article about the disgusting reason behind itching, and now your skin begins to crawl\u2026 But knowledge is power, right? <\/p>

By Noa Leach\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 22 November 2023 at 16:00 PM<\/p>

\n\n

You know that prickly feeling you get under a woollen jumper, or when someone lightly brushes your skin? Heck \u2013 right now, somewhere on your body, you\u2019ve probably even got an itch caused by nothing in particular. Well, scientists at Harvard Medical School in the USA have discovered its cause: a (very gross) bacteria living in your skin<\/a>.<\/p>

And (as if it couldn\u2019t get worse) the researchers have found this happens because the bacteria, known as Staphylococcus aureus<\/em>, literally changes your nerve cells. If your skin wasn\u2019t crawling before, we bet it is now.<\/p>

But how does it make you itch? Published in the journal Cell<\/em>, a new paper reveals that the pesky little microbe releases a chemical which activates a protein in our nerves. This sends a signal from our skin to our brains \u2013 which our brain perceives as an itch.<\/p>

If it makes you feel any better, there are plenty of good<\/em> bacteria that also live in your skin. In fact, this amazing organ<\/a> is kept healthy by a fine balance of microorganisms that call your skin their home.<\/p>

But it\u2019s when this finely balanced microbiome<\/a> becomes out of whack that S. aureus<\/em> can go rampant.<\/p>

The researchers discovered this through research on mice and human cells. To start, they exposed the skin of mice to S. aureus<\/em>. The mice developed increasingly intense itches \u2013 directly due to the bacteria, but also in response to stimuli that shouldn\u2019t be so irritating, like a light touch.<\/p>