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PRURITUS

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 518 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PRURITUS , an ailment characterized by intense itching of the See also:

surface of the See also:body. It may occur in connexion with other morbid conditions, such as See also:jaundice, See also:diabetes, See also:digestive disorders, &c., or as the result of the irritation produced by skin parasites. The most serious See also:form is pruritus senilis, which affects old persons, and is often a cause of See also:great suffering, depriving the patient of See also:sleep. In such cases it is probably due to atrophic changes in the skin. No eruption is visible, except such marks as are produced by scratching. The treatment consists in the removal of any apparent cause, and See also:measures to strengthen the See also:system, such as the use of See also:quinine, See also:iron, &c. Soothing lotions composed of solutions of alkalis conjoined with See also:chloral, See also:opium, hydrocyanic See also:acid, &c., may be applied to the affected skin at bedtime.

End of Article: PRURITUS

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