Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 20 Aug 2013 13:42:23 -0700, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Mack A. Damia wrote:
On Tue, 20 Aug 2013 13:21:58 -0700, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

wrote:
On Tuesday, January 20, 2004 3:06:23 AM UTC+5:30, Marek Williams
wrote:
When I was a kid we had a dog. This was a very long time ago,
long before flea medications. The dog had a flea collar, but
still had fleas, and there were fleas in the house.

I recall my mother and my brother constantly complaining about
flea bites. I remember them showing me their ankles with red
spots all over. In the meantime, my father and I never had a
single flea bite. Since leaving home I have always had cats, and
they would sometimes have fleas, in spite of flea collars.
Nevertheless, in all my life I can't remember ever having a flea
bite myself.

This has always made me curious. I have a couple questions that
someone might be able to shed some light on.

1) Is it possible for humans (or animals, for that matter) to
possess a natural flea repellent? Like maybe fleas take one whiff
of me and go "phew, stay away from that guy, he really stinks!"

2) Or maybe I'm atually being bitten, but don't display any
reaction. What I'm getting at is what is it about flea bites that
makes them itch? For example, my understanding of mosquito bites
is that the mosquito injects a blood thinner agent to help it
suck up the blood; and humans have an allergic reaction to the
agent which causes the itching and swelling. What exactly is it
about flea bites that make them itch? Is it possible for humans
to be immune to this?

My cat gets Revolution and seems to have no flea problem, so it's
just my own curiosity here. Does anyone know of any scientific
information about flea bites?

--
Bogus e-mail address, but I read this newsgroup regularly, so
reply here.

http://fleabitesonhuman.com/

A better question is what makes anything itch? Oh sure, they say,
"allergic reaction" and all that stuff, but what really causes the
itch, and why? Many years ago, I picked up an eye infection at my
local community swimming pool. I went to an eye doctor and said, "I
think I have a fungus infection or something on my eyelid that ic
making it itch. He got angry with me and said. "Why do you think
its a fungus infection? - Its a bacterial infection!" I didn't say
anything to him then, but today I would say, "Why does it itch? I
know he wouldn't have been able to give me a straight answer. Not
then, and not now. Like many doctors, he thought he knew
everything.

It's the sensors in your tissue. Same with any cut or wound. It
hurts, but in the case of a bacterial or fungal infection, you get
itching.

Think about intense itching when you get poison ivy, etc.

But this doesn't explain the exact mechanism that causes an itch. I
get itching in (on) my ankles. It does no good to scratch it,
because allthough the itch goes away while I am scratching, it comes
back almost immediately, and is worse. So, I haqve just learned to
put up with it and pay no attention to it. What is the exact cause
of this? I have no infection or rash there. And when I get an itch
any other place, scratching it makes it go away for a long time.
What is there about my ankles that makes them itch for no reason,
and not be relieved by scratching? And I am not the only one with
this problem. I have a friend about my age who has the exact same
problem.

I can't explain the exact mechanism that makes it itch. Skin and
tissue age and get dry as we age. Dry skin itches. Same as leather
when it gets old and dry - it cracks.

The interesting thing to me is that there are different kinds of itches. My
psoriasis itches, but the itch goes away when I scratcvh it. and sometimes
for quite a long time. But I don't have any psoriasis on my ankles, and yet
they itch and scratching doesn't help. It only makes it worse.
What is the difference between these two itches on the cellular level?