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Itching has many causes, some relatively short lived and benign, like itching from contact with poison ivy, and some more serious, such as as cancer or liver disease. If you have any itching conditions you should always have them evaluated by a doctor.

Itching may be caused by a variety of conditions including:

• Fungal infections, such as vaginal infections and athlete's foot
• Candiasis / other types of yeast overgrowth
• Mold allergies
• Vitamin A over load <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000350.htm>
• Pregnancy - thought to be due to excess estrogen levels
• Chemical irritation
• Plant irritations like poison ivy and poison oak
• Dust and pollen allergies
• Just about every known disease of the liver

The one common link in many of the conditions that cause itching is that a significant number all seem to relate to functions of the liver. In fact, prolonged itching of the skin is a major sign of liver disease.

Among its many functions, the liver is responsible for:

Cleansing the body of toxic substances, parasites, fungi, yeast, mold and other unwanted microscopic life forms

Detoxifying and eliminating chemicals, poisons and other toxins

Metabolizing estrogen

Controlling blood sugar

Storage of nutrients, including vitamin A

I suspect most itching from liver disease is actually not due to the disease itself but by irritants on the skin that the liver normally takes care of but can't handle in a weakened state. Chemicals, toxins, fungus, parasites, and other substances may not bother most people because their livers dispose of them. I think people with a lot of itching problems and also those with highly sensitive skin "feel" things more because their livers can't handle the routine assaults form the outside world that most people with well functioning livers don't even notice.

One other reason noted in my alternative health books for itchy skin from poor liver function is that when the liver is unable to properly neutralize chemicals, toxins and parasites in the body, a back up method of elimination is that the body may then try to get rid of these undesirable substances through the skin. This can result in itchy rashes and brown spots on the outside of the skin as the foreign substances are pushed out through the outer skin layers.

A lot of people think allergies and chemical sensitivities are something you are born with and are unable to control. I know from my personal experience and that of members of my family that many allergies and itchy skin conditions are actually controllable with diet, especially diets that help support the liver. In my family we have successfully used diet changes and environment modification to eliminate or reduce mold allergies <mold-allergies.html>, pollen allergies, latex allergies and chemical sensitivities <multiple_chemical_sensitivity.html>.

We have learned a lot about mold allergies in the past few years, as we have three pet rodents who have to be given large quantities of stored hay each day. From time to time members of our family have developed runny noses, gotten itchy or started sneezing around the little critters, either from the rodent themselves (they are not the most hygienic pets) or from the hay they eat and also like to toss around their cage and out onto the carpet. On each occasion nutrition support for the "allergy" sufferer and a reminder to the kids for more thorough cage cleaning has resulted in a a positive out come.

In terms of chemical reactions, if you are sensitive to caffeine, part of the problem may be that your liver is unable to metabolize the caffeine properly, so it effects you more than other people by staying in your system longer. For caffeine sensitive people even one cup of coffee in the morning may be enough to interfere with sleep later on at night because the caffeine is still in your system, instead of being eliminated from your system by the liver like it is most people. (See my page on insomnia treatments <insomnia_treatment.html> for more on this topic.)

The good news is that the liver is one organ that can actually regenerate itself. So if you can reduce the number of assaults on the liver from the outside world and provide the proper nutrients to help support the liver from the inside, you may be able to improve the functioning of your liver, reduce your itching and clear up some of your allergies in the process.

Related Pages:

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities <multiple_chemical_sensitivity.html> - treatments that helped my son.

Mold Allergies <mold-allergies.html> - actually brought on by antibiotics. Also covers treatments that helped my son.

Related sites:

Vitamin warning for liver lovers <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4167675.stm> - People should be careful about taking vitamin A supplements, limit eating liver to once a week and be careful about other sources of vitamin A, say food experts. (Since many nutrients are stored in animal livers, you have to be careful about eating liver to not get too much vitamin A.)

Introduction to the Digestive System <http://www.healthy.net/scr/Article.asp?Id=538> - explains how the digestive systems works, including the functions of the liver.