When it itches, you scratch

An unpleasant sensation that elicits the desire or the reflex to scratch is how itch has been classically defined. Scratching does help ward off that insect which is troubling you; but pruritus (as itch is called) that persists for longer than six weeks is a pathological state with profound effects on the health, physical and mental, of one in seven persons. Ongoing research has uncovered a wide range of mechanisms underlying what appears to be a single condition.

Read more at https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/when-it-itches-you-scratch/article38275284.ece/amp/