Lifestyle
Chronic itch is miserable. Scientists are just scratching the surface
![Chronic itch is miserable. Scientists are just scratching the surface Chronic itch is miserable. Scientists are just scratching the surface](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4663x2623+0+0/resize/1400/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F59%2F5d%2Ff615e1f044bda8a28b0fc0f24aa5%2Fgettyimages-1463546524.jpg)
“There’s actual studies that show that itching is contagious,” journalist Annie Lowrey says. “Watching somebody scratch will make a person scratch.”
Kinga Krzeminska/Moment RF via Getty Images
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Kinga Krzeminska/Moment RF via Getty Images
We’ve all had bug bites, or dry scalp, or a sunburn that causes itch. But what if you felt itchy all the time — and there was no relief?
Journalist Annie Lowrey suffers from primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), a degenerative liver disease in which the body mistakenly attacks cells lining the bile ducts, causing them to inflame. The result is a severe itch that doesn’t respond to antihistamines or steroids.
“It feels like being trapped inside your own body,” Lowrey says of the disease. “I always describe it as being like a car alarm. Like, you can’t stop thinking about it.”
PBC is impacts approximately 80,000 people in the U.S., the majority of whom are women. At its worst, Lowrey says, the itch caused her to dig holes in her skin and scalp. She’s even fantasized about having limbs amputated to escape the itch.
![What can trigger an itch? Scientists have found a new culprit](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/11/22/gettyimages-1463546484_sq-8b0a5cb9c3a39c63924dd673fe8e44d0e8f52b1c.jpg?s=100&c=15&f=jpeg)
Lowrey writes about living with PBC in the Atlantic article, “Why People Itch and How to Stop It.” She says a big part of her struggle is coming to terms with the fact that she may never feel fully at ease in her skin.
“I talked to two folks who are a lot older than I was, just about like, how do you deal with it? How do you deal with the fact that you might itch and never stop itching? … And both of them were kind of like, ‘You put up with it, stop worrying about it and get on with your life,’” she says. “I think I was mentally trapped … and sometimes it’s like, OK, … go do something else. Life continues on. You have a body. It’s OK.”
Interview highlights
On why scratching gives us temporary relief
Scratching, it engenders pain in the skin, which interrupts the sensation of itch and it gives you the sense of relief that actually feels really good. It’s really pleasurable to scratch. And then when you stop scratching, the itch comes back. And the problem is that when you scratch or you damage your skin in order to stop the itch, to interrupt the itch, you actually damage the skin in a way that then makes the skin more itchy because you end up with histamine in the skin. And histamine is one of the hormones that generates itch within the body.
On the itch-scratch cycle
Histamine is an amazing chemical that does many, many, many things in our body and it’s part of our immune response. It leads to swelling so the body can come in to heal. And the scratching is meant to get whatever irritant was there off. And the itch-scratch cycle ends when the body heals. So I think that that’s all part of a natural and proper cycle. That’s part of our body being amazing at sensing what’s around it and then healing it. But we have some itch that’s caused by substances other than histamine. We’ve only started to understand that kind of itch recently. Similarly, we didn’t really … understand chronic itch very well until recently. And we’re in a period, I’d say in the last 20 years, of just tremendous scientific advancement in our understanding of itch.
On why itching is contagious
There’s actual studies that show that itching is contagious. So watching somebody scratch will make a person scratch. There’s this interesting question: Are people scratching empathetically in the way that we will mirror the movements of people around us, in the way that yawning is contagious or crying can be contagious? But it turns out that, no, it’s probably a self-protective thing. If you see somebody scratching, there’s some ancient part of your body that says that person might have scabies, that person might have some other infestation. I’m going to start scratching to get this off of myself because scratching is in part a self-protective mechanism. We want to get irritants off of the body, and that’s in part why we scratch.
On thinking of itch as a disease
![One man left Kansas for a lifesaving liver transplant — but the problems run deeper](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/05/24/garygray_conlon_sq-8067f722e500ea05c1bd1a467c0acac7216fa4a6.jpg?s=100&c=15&f=jpeg)
When scientists said that itching is a disease in and of itself, what they meant was that chronic itching changes the body’s own circuitry in a way that begets more chronic itching. That implies that itching is not just a side effect, it’s a body process in and of itself. And so instead of just being a symptom … itch itself can kind of rewire the body and can be treated as a condition unto itself. And a lot of dermatologists see it that way. It’s often a symptom, often a side effect, but sometimes it’s really its own thing in the body.
On the social stigma around itching
If you saw somebody scratching themselves on the subway, would you go sit next to them? No, of course not. Just instinctively, I think you have that self-preservation mechanism. … It’s a really deep thing: Don’t get scabies. Don’t get bed bugs. Don’t get ticks on you. … I don’t think that people are trying to be cruel. I think there’s something deeply hardwired in there. … Like, don’t approach the mangy dog that looks like it has fleas all over it. Don’t approach the human that’s compulsively scratching themselves, which is socially coded in the same way that, like, chewing with your mouth open is. It’s not something that is an attractive thing to do.
On considering why so little attention paid to itch compared to pain
Pain is so awful and I would never say that there’s something ennobling about pain. But I think that there’s a certain amount of social respect [given] to people who are going through [pain], and itching — you kind of sound like a Muppet. … You look like a dog with fleas. It’s embarrassing to scratch yourself in public. It’s inappropriate to scratch yourself in public. I think people just kind of don’t take it very seriously. I’ve also thought a lot about how, like, if you had a chronic itching support group, everybody would come into it and then just start scratching themselves, and then make everybody else itchier by being in the simple presence of people who are itchy. It’s something that people suffer through alone.
On finding acceptance
I do think that even if I can’t quite come to terms with the itch, I have come to much better terms of the gift of being in a body that is getting sick, the gift of being in a body at all. … I always want to be careful to note … that I don’t think that illness is any kind of gift. And I don’t think that there needs to be upsides to bad things happening to people at all. But I do appreciate the insight that I’ve had into myself, even if I wish that I never had occasion to have it. …
You can endure a lot. Your body is going to fail you. It can feel completely crazy-making and obsessive and miserable. And you can survive it. You can just keep on breathing through it. You can do really amazing, wonderful things. And again, that’s not to say I think that it’s worth it, or that I’m taking the right lesson away from it. … Not everything needs to be a lesson. You don’t need to respond to things that are unfair and difficult in this fashion. But writing the piece led me to a much greater place of acceptance, and I really appreciated that.
Monique Nazareth and Anna Bauman produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Carmel Wroth adapted it for the web.
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
Lifestyle
Forget what you think you know about fruitcake
![Forget what you think you know about fruitcake Forget what you think you know about fruitcake](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/940x529+105+254/resize/1400/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8a%2Fc1%2F815d5c2c4719b6daae06dcd79b55%2Fnatures-candy.jpg)
“There’s a lot of terrible candied fruit out there, unfortunately …” says cookbook author Camilla Wynne. “It’s fair that they get a bad rap, but they aren’t representative of candied fruit generally.” In her book Nature’s Candy, Wynne guides cooks through making not-terrible candied fruit, for cakes such as the Stollen Pound Cake, above.
Mickaël A. Bandassak/Appetite by Random House
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Mickaël A. Bandassak/Appetite by Random House
For generations of Americans, making fun of fruitcake has been a holiday tradition. Even Sabrina Carpenter cannot resist piling on. “Fruitcake just makes me sick,” the pop star intones in a song on her new Christmas album that happens to be called Fruitcake.
But a Canadian pastry chef and master food preserver would like us to reconsider our assumptions. Camilla Wynne is the author of a new cookbook called Nature’s Candy. It’s an ode to the pleasures of candying fruits — and even the occasional vegetable — and baking with them.
Wynne said she completely understands why fruitcake got stuck with such a terrible reputation.
![Nature's Candy: Timeless and Inventive Recipes for Creating and Baking with Candied Fruit](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1131x1500+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8a%2Fc1%2F815d5c2c4719b6daae06dcd79b55%2Fnatures-candy.jpg)
“I think it’s because there’s a lot of terrible candied fruit out there, unfortunately,” she said. “Bright red or bright green glacé cherries, and the problem with those, of course, is that they don’t taste like anything. It’s fair that they get a bad rap, but they aren’t representative of candied fruit generally.”
Fruitcake is fantastic, says Wynne, if you use excellent fruit, especially fruit you candy yourself. Still, the idea of candying fruit at home seems daunting at best, at least to this NPR reporter (and enthusiastic amateur baker). “Oh, I hate that you’re intimidated!” Wynne said in response to the hesitancy, “That’s like the last thing I want. [But] people are. I understand that.”
Candying fruit, Wynne insisted, is not any harder than boiling eggs. The technique is, basically, briefly simmering fruit in sugar water over the course of a few days.
“I’m candying a bunch of whole figs right now,” she said. “Every day, it’s not much more than watering your plants. They need to simmer for 10 minutes, so when I’m setting up to make dinner, I’ll just turn them on and put on the timer.”
![PHOTOS: 'Almost Edible' 106-Year-Old Fruitcake Found In Antarctica](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2017/08/14/huntley-and-palmer-fruit-cake_c-aht_sq-6161714c5af8f94fe2b91a5617554dde0275d4b6.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg)
![Georgia Town Makes Claim For Fruitcake Capital Of The World](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/12/12/fruitcake_sq-863754a19a7a024b805cd4765f9290355268741c.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg)
Those candied figs are put to succulent use in Wynne’s Florentine tart recipe, along with candied cherries and orange peel. Even to a fruitcake skeptic, the cake recipes in Nature’s Candy look delicious. Her Tropical Terrazzo Cake (recipe below) uses coconut milk, lime juice and an array of candied tropical fruits. The cookbook also includes plenty of non-fruitcake recipes, such as caramel corn with candied ginger, and strawberry sugar cookies with candied jalapenos.
“You get all this jalapeno syrup with it too, and it makes a really good base for margaritas if you’re into that kind of thing,” Wynne noted with relish.
![All jokes aside, this fruitcake is legendary. It was even served at a wedding](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/11/21/family-recipe-update-ellie-king_sq-65f5bc4cd9199f5d12a2f0d19eed545046238efc.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg)
Back in the lockdown days of the pandemic, she added, many home cooks turned to baking bread. Candying your own fruit is similar, she says. It brings a sense of scaling up skills and quiet contemplation to the kitchen during a moment marked by violence and institutional turmoil around the world.
“Unwind, de-stress and connect to beauty,” Wynne suggested. “The world’s a bit nuts.”
And what goes better with nuts, after all, than candied fruit?
Tropical Terrazzo Cake
By Camilla Wynne
“They paused to breathe in steam rising from the oven and took extra helpings of pound cake sliced to reveal a terrazzo pattern of candied citron and glace fruits,” writes John Birdsall in one of my favorite culinary biographies, The Man Who Ate Too Much. The idea for this sturdy pound cake studded with chunks of candied tropical fruits and glazed with tart lime syrup came from that single line in this biography of icon James Beard. The book is full of literary descriptions like this that pull you right into the action, making it a pleasure to read. Most importantly, the book doesn’t downplay his queerness. I recommend reading it while you enjoy a slice of this cake. Use a variety of candied tropical (or tropical-adjacent) fruits, keeping in mind that it can always be a mixture of homemade and store-bought. I usually use pineapple, kiwi, papaya, citron, ginger, and cactus pear.
Serves 16
For the Cake
230 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature (very soft)
533 g (2⅔ cups) sugar
1½ tsp salt
Zest of 1 lime
6 eggs, at room temperature
420 g (3 cups) all-purpose flour
250 mL (1 cup) full-fat coconut milk
500 g (2 cups) drained and chopped (½- to 1-inch pieces) mixed candied fruit, reserving the syrup
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Generously grease and amply flour a 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan and refrigerate the pan until it’s time to fill it.
To make the cake, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, salt, and lime zest until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
With the mixer running on low speed, add one-third of the flour and then half of the coconut milk. Alternate until all the flour and coconut milk are incorporated.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium-high for 30 seconds to make sure everything is well blended. Fold in the chopped candied fruit.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Give the pan a hard tap on the countertop to help settle the batter. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, make the syrup.
For the Syrup
125 mL (½ cup) candied fruit
syrup (see Note)
60 mL (¼ cup) lime juice
2 Tbsp dark rum (optional)
NOTE You can use any candied fruit syrup for this recipe or use the reserved syrup from the cake method. To make the syrup, in a small pot, combine the syrup and lime juice. Bring to a boil and cook until it is reduced by half. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum, if using.
To assemble, carefully turn the cake out of the pan. Use all the syrup to brush the cake all over the top and sides. Cool completely. The cake will keep, well wrapped, at room temperature for at least 5 days.
Excerpted from Nature’s Candy by Camilla Wynne. Copyright © 2024 Camilla Wynne. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
Edited for radio and the web by Meghan Sullivan, produced for radio by Chloee Weiner, produced for the web by Beth Novey
![Lemon Fruitcake](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2011/11/18/fruitcake1_sq-232f9be81c356485ecfe35ddf6264914749642d3.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg)
Lifestyle
Aaron Rodgers Reveals He Has A Girlfriend
![Aaron Rodgers Reveals He Has A Girlfriend Aaron Rodgers Reveals He Has A Girlfriend](https://imagez.tmz.com/image/e5/16by9/2024/12/23/e59c64aa97724c34ac1d42bda51da93f_xl.jpg)
ESPN
Aaron Rodgers just revealed he has a new girlfriend!!!
The New York Jets star dropped the bombshell minutes ago on “The Pat McAfee Show” … telling Pat McAfee, A.J. Hawk and the rest of the guys he’s now dating a woman named Brittani.
No word on who she is or how they met — but Rodgers certainly appears to be really into her … as he said on the show he got her a Christmas gift — and he didn’t push back when McAfee ribbed him about being “in love.”
“It’s a good feeling, boys,” Rodgers said. “It is.”
Rodgers’ last public relationship was with actress Shailene Woodley. The two got together in 2020 and were engaged soon after … but split in 2022.
Prior to that, 41-year-old Rodgers had high-profile ‘ships with Danica Patrick and Olivia Munn.
He had been rumored recently to be seeing Mallory Edens — the daughter of Milwaukee Bucks owner Wes Edens — but unless her pet name is “Brittani” these days, it seems that’s kaput.
Congrats on the new love, Aaron!
Lifestyle
'May love rest gently in your broken heart': What to say to a grieving friend
!['May love rest gently in your broken heart': What to say to a grieving friend 'May love rest gently in your broken heart': What to say to a grieving friend](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4194x2359+157+0/resize/1400/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8a%2F39%2F9de06c71433788d983269a28c427%2Fgettyimages-1519327819.jpg)
It can be tricky to offer condolences to someone who is grieving. You want to show your friend you love them, but you also know there isn’t much you can say to heal your friend’s pain.
Jorm Sangsorn/Getty Images
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Jorm Sangsorn/Getty Images
This month, we asked our audience: What words of comfort do you say to a friend whose loved one has passed away? It was part of a podcast episode and story we did on how to support a grieving friend.
We received dozens of emails on this question. Some people shared the exact messages they sent to their own good friends. Others who have experienced loss told us what not to say — and what they wished people said instead.
![Monochrome illustration showing a person in the distance bent over in grief sitting underneath a willow tree. In the foreground, a figure stands with its head bent next to a path leading to the tree, symbolizing a loved one who is unsure how to help their friend who is grieving.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x3000+718+0/resize/100/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8b%2Ffd%2F090dfda6434ab2177f144d3508d1%2Fgrieving-friend-final-edit1.jpg)
As many can attest, it can be tricky to offer condolences — you want to show your friend you love them, but you also know there isn’t much you can say to heal your friend’s pain. Here are some ideas about what to say to a grieving friend. These responses have been edited for length and clarity.
‘May love rest gently in your broken heart’
Our 29-year-old son died unexpectedly in September. There really are no words to console us. Most comments that mention healing or finding peace, however well-intentioned, feel so unrealistic and oblivious to the depth of our loss. I hope we do find peace and some degree of healing eventually, but right now I need to sit with my grief.
I’ve thought a lot more about what I say to those who are grieving. The (barely) best I’ve come up with so far is: “May love rest gently in your broken heart.” —Betsy Hooper-Rosebrook
A simple way to break the ice
When my husband passed away unexpectedly five years ago, it was so hard for me to go to the grocery store or the post office. Everyone asked me, “How are you doing?” I felt like I needed to respond in a way that assured the other person I was OK when I was not.
However, two friends would always say, “It’s so good to see you,” and give me a hug. That took the pressure off of me. So now, with my grieving friends, I try to say that too. —Cindy Jackelen
![4 tips for saying goodbye to someone you love](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/04/07/gettyimages-158724611_sq-49ee3e7ef474eb331fbdced54b0f5d862d9561f0.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg)
Tell your friend they are wonderful
On a card, I usually say something like, “I know their life was better because you were in it.” People have commented that they loved hearing that. —Connie DeMillo
‘Sorry for your loss’ does not cut it
Of course it is exactly what you mean and is probably sincere, but it’s stock language. Come up with an original, personal message that’s your own. Ask yourself: What would you want someone to say to you if you were in that situation? Give that person the gift of five minutes’ thought and empathy. —Beth Howard
![This illustration shows a wall with multiple arched open windows. Figures are sitting on the windowsills, with heads tilted downward in deep contemplation.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3637x1982+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1c%2F13%2F8a62be7e4e35838db8b0519c0c95%2Fgettyimages-1519328476.jpg)
Send your friend a message of support on the death anniversary of their loved one. “It helps relieve the burden of grief when it is acknowledged and shared,” says reader Thomas McCabe.
Jorm Sangsorn/Getty Images
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Jorm Sangsorn/Getty Images
Mark death anniversaries on your calendar
I lost my wife of 42 years to cancer ten years ago. I always dread the approach of her death anniversary. But it’s comforting to receive a text from someone who remembers that day as well.
I have a friend who lost both her husband and her only child to cancer. I’ve marked those dates in my calendar and I send a simple text that says “Sending love to you today.” It helps relieve the burden of grief when it is acknowledged and shared. —Thomas McCabe
Bring up their laugh
Say, “I’ll always remember their laugh.” Every time I’ve said it to a grieving person, they perked up, smiled and were truly thankful. —James Vandeputte
Don’t say nothing
Having lost my son when he was 20, don’t say nothing. Saying something doesn’t remind a grieving friend of their loss. It’s already on their mind 24/7. —David Lavallee
Sit with them quietly
When my mother passed away in 1998, it was very difficult for me. Friends called and came by and said the typical condolences. I didn’t want to hear any of it.
I was sitting alone in my living room quietly when my then 14-year-old son reached out and held my hand. He sat with me and never said anything. After a while, he got up and went back to his room.
In that moment, I found total comfort and understanding. I knew I would get through this sadness. I wondered how my son could know this was all I needed. Sometimes, just sitting with a person and saying nothing is everything. —Sharon S. Barnes
Validate their pain
Several years ago, I had to deal with the death of two brothers and both parents over a span of about five years. I talked to a friend who had some training in grief counseling, and we worked out together some words to help me grieve and understand. It goes like this:
Your world has been shattered and is in a million pieces. It no longer makes sense. You can’t see how you can live and breathe and move in this world. But, given time, you will be able to put it back together. It won’t be the same world that you knew before, because there will always be a piece missing — forever. But you’ll be able to live and move in this new world that you’ve put together. Eventually, this world will make sense and start to work for you. You’re even allowed to go visit the place where the piece is missing and grieve.
I’ve been able to pass these words on to others who have been in severe grief, even strangers, and it seems to help. Maybe you can pass this message on to others. —Dan Corbett
Share the silliest memories
My mother-in-law died recently at the age of 94. Upon her death, I reminded my wife of 35 years of a humorous event that occurred when my mother-in-law was a mere 80 years old. We were walking behind her into her house and later, the same evening, I told my wife that her mom had a cute butt. When I reminded my wife of that, we both laughed and cried. —Wayne Mac
Thank you to everyone who wrote in with your words of support and love for grieving friends.
The digital story was edited by Meghan Keane. The visual producer is Beck Harlan.
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