Is this autoimmune cause of pruritus being overlooked?
Nonbullous pemphigoid may be more common than thought in patients older than 65
The autoimmune disease nonbullous pemphigoid may be an unrecognised cause of pruritus in the over-65s, a small study suggests.
The study included 125 nursing home residents in the Netherlands with a mean age of 84. Most (75%) of the participants had a history of neurodegenerative disease.
As reported in JAMA Dermatology, pruritus was present in nearly half the participants (47%) and had lasted for more than six weeks in 81% of those with itch.
While three participants had already been diagnosed with bullous pemphigoid, the researchers found four more people with pemphigoid — all of the nonbullous type — yielding an overall prevalence of 6%.
