Angry back

Rietschel, R.L., Stochastic resonance and angry back syndrome noisy skin, Am. J. Contact Dermatitis, 3, 152-154, 1996. 

In the ICDRG standard series, the parabens are tested as a mixture of 3% of methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, butyl- and benzyl-p-hydroxybenzoic acid, a total of 15% in petrolatum which may be irritating and enhance the occurrence of multiple false positive patch tests (angry back) (Mitchell 1977). 

If the excited skin syndrome phenomenon is hapten-related, this has not been elucidated. However, Andersen et al. employed adjacent nickel sulfate patch tests at different dilutions to study both the dose-response relationship for nickel sulfate among nickel-sensitive patients and the nickel-sulfate-related angry back phenomenon (Andersen et al. 1993). Strong reactions at high concentrations of nickel sulfate did not enhance the response to adjacent lower concentrations of nickel sulfate, and the spillover effect was not significant. 

Memon and Friedman investigated whether the angry back syndrome is a generalized state of hyperreactivity of the skin or if it is localized only in close... 

Andersen KE, Liden C, Hansen J, Volund A (1993) Dose-response testing with nickel sulphate using the TRUE test in nickel-sensitive individuals. Multiple nickel sulphate patch-test reactions do not cause an angry back . Br J Dermatol 129 50-56... 

Bandmann HJ, Agathos M (1981) New results and some remarks to the angry back syndrome . Contact Dermatitis 7 23-26... 

Hamami I, Marks R (1988) Abnormalities in clinically normal skin- a possible explanation of the angry back syndrome . Clin Exp Dermatol 13 328-331... 

Kligman A, Gollhausen R (1986) The angry back a new concept or old confusion Br J Dermatol ii5(suppl 3i) 93-ioo Lammintausta K, Maibach HI, Wilson D (1987) Human cutaneous irritation induced hyporeactivity. Contact Dermatitis 17 193-198... 

Pasche-Koo F, Hauser C (1992) How to understand the angry back syndrome. Dermatology 184 237-240 Pinnagoda J, Tupker RA, Smit JA, Coenraads PJ, Nater JP (1989a) The intra and inter-individual variability and reliability of transepidermal water loss measurements. Contact Dermatitis... 

Maibach HI (1981) The ESS - excited skin syndrome (alias the angry back ). In Ring J, Burg G (eds) New trends in aUergy. Springer, Berlin Heidelerg New York, pp 208-221... 

It may be argued that the patch tests are positive because the skin is in a state of hyper-reactivity termed excited-skin syndrome or angry back (Bruynzeel and Maibach 1995). This may lead to strong positive reactions to patch tests of minor irritants or subclinical or weak allergens. Authors who report compound allergies, such as Cox et al. (1989) or Kellett et al. (1986), have eliminated this as far as possible by repeating the patch tests 2 months later and obtaining another positive result. 

Bruynzeel DP, Maibach HI (1995) Angry back or the excited skin syndrome. In Guin JD (ed) Practical contact dermatitis. A handbook for the practitioner. McGraw-Hill, New York, PP 75-82... 

The first environmental physician I went to see listened to my story, sat back in her chair and said, It s obvious that you don t want to get well. I was devastated. I later learned that she had cancer and her friends were angry with her because she put off getting help for it, so I believe she was projecting some of her issues onto me because I was also a physician. Later, we did have a more satisfying telephone conversation, after my blood tests showed that my thyroid was not functioning properly. 

Visibly angry, Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, a strong advocate of veterans claims about harms from Agent Orange, questioned my scientific qualifications, my motives, and my conclusions. He invited the chairman of the IOM committee back to the witness table to respond to my comments. The chairman declined, saying he didn t want to enter into a debate. Senator Rockefeller then directed IOM to present me with a written criticism of my remarks. More than six years have passed. I ve seen nothing from the IOM. 

Actually he is not ruined, because a pair of English tourists make and lose a bet that his wife will be angry with him when he comes back with the apples. 

I held back an angry comment. Either he was just strutting to impress Violetta or he had let me invoke a fiend when he already knew the murderer s name. 

Three of the 10 women lived in dread of ECT for years afterward but were afraid to express their angry feelings for fear of being sent back to the hospital for involuntary shock treatment. In my clinical experience, this is a realistic fear. Doctors frequently respond to complaints about the treatment by deciding that the patient is in need of more treatment. Repeated treatment can usually be relied on to put an end to all protests. 

We waited half an hour or so. I played with the instruments and fathomed how to use the quadrant, but I was distracted by those plans for Selden. I kept going back for another look at that gracious mansion with its twin flights of steps, pillars, and porticoes, until in the end the sight of it made me so angry that I pushed the glass aside, pulled out the plans, rolled them up, and tucked them into a pocket. 

Here s an experiment to try when you get a home blood pressure monitor, which I really hope you will do. Put the cuff around your arm and measure your pressure. Note the reading. Now think about something that happened in your life either recently or a while back that really made you angry. Dwell on that negative experience for two or three minutes. Then measure your blood pressure again. Almost certainly the numbers will be higher. 

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