Itching and scratching consumed Karen Berger’s life until she met dermatologist Dr. Brian Kim. The itching was all over her body. She described it as unbearable, unrelenting, uncontrollable and untreatable. No one could diagnose the cause. Dr. Kim prescribed the anti-inflammatory drug Xeljanz, a rheumatoid arthritis medication. It’s a potential new therapy for chronic itch. Kim is co-director of the Center for the Study of Itch (CSI) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Through his research, Kim is able to help some chronic itch patients who have a type of itch from an unknown cause, a condition called idiopathic pruritus. Kim led a small study providing proof that Xeljanz works for chronic itch patients.
Dr. brian kim’s he was scratched he could bleed i would wake up in the the night it wasn’t even aware of it but he would scratch until you just bled what words can describe this is what she said she did all the time uncontrollable it never went away i started getting rashes on my back the went to specialists dermatologists allergist she tried every test and cream everything i
Wore changed soaps shampoos of the problem and still nothing worked no relief and it only got worse ib got on the medication it became so overwhelming tonight i didn’t know what help karen and some other chronic itch patients who have a type of itch from an prescribes the anti-inflammatory drug xeljanz a rheumatoid arthritis while off-label for itching karen said she didn’t
Have issues with insurance switching her arthritis medications to xeljanz drug called tofacitinib its known to be a great target as an anti-inflammatory agent so as a result disease of the joints kim is co-director of the center for the study showed that sensory neurons in mice and people are activated by the immune protein in nerve cells a critical component of chronic
Itching this led to itch and the aha moment was that aa jock doesn’t just work in immune cells but that oh this drug could actually be a neuromodulatory drug not an improvement after two years of suffering karen’s life changed within a matter of started to subside it was like i got a shower that morning i was like i’m not up places but within two or three days it was like
It was subsiding it was like was completely clear i was like i was back to my normal skin then 15% of like eczema and psoriasis or associated with cancers and nerve disorders the a problem as people age your nervous system starts to wear out and and your to your brain and that wiring gets a little bit rusty and off and your nerves neurologic disorders are much more common
As you get older but the other and so you’re now much more susceptible to environmental insults to your skin also know your immune system changes you also now start to need to get vaccines as you get older because your immune that lead to some level of inflammation your nerves going haywire your skin results in this kind of itch and why it’s a problem he says he understands
Treat people will even on the extreme end people will endorse suicidal to deteriorate you can’t concentrate you can’t enjoy your you start developing an on label you’d have to do a big clinical trial and prove that it’s where it was before that first rash back to being normal again i mean i can just about it for hec i’m kathleen berger
Transcribed from video
Chronic Itch? Arthritis Drug is Potential New Therapy Fighting Itch By HEC Science \u0026 Technology