Awareness raised on chronic skin condition often misdiagnosed
JACKSON, Tenn. — Most people have experienced hives at some point — those itchy, raised welts that flare up in response to something like food, fabric, or pollen.
This is the reality for people living with chronic spontaneous urticaria, also known as CSU.
It’s a condition in which hives appear suddenly without any external trigger or known cause and persist for longer than six weeks.
The symptoms can be severe, yet CSU remains misunderstood and often misdiagnosed.
“There’s no root cause for this condition,” said Dr. Adam Friedman. “It is not due to an allergy to a medicine or a food or from an infection. Which means there’s no blood test, there’s no skin biopsy that defines the condition. Rather it’s a clinical diagnosis, and I think, because of that, that adds to the challenge of making the right diagnosis. Which is why we have on record, it could take up to two years from the time this starts to the time the right diagnosis is made, adding to the burden of the condition.”
Even those with a confirmed diagnosis often struggle to control their CSU.
Most people are advised to take antihistamines to manage their symptoms. However, 50% of patients still experience symptoms despite treatment with antihistamines.
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