Water is a necessity for survival; almost impossible to live without, but I just read a story about a women who is ALLERGIC to water. Is this real?
(picture from Euclid Public Library)
The story is about a woman named Rachel Prince who is allegedly allergic to water. The conditions that makes you allergic to water is called aquagenic urticaria. “With this conditions Prince cannot swim, take long baths, drink cold water, or be kissed by her fiancee. The water causes her throat to swell up, or painful rashes and hives to appear. She is even allergic to her own tears, saliva, sweat and blood.” Here is her answer to a question we are all thinking of, “‘They say, “how do I wash”? The answer is very quickly. When I have a bath I am only in it for a few minutes at the most and then when I get out the rash is so itchy and painful I have to lie down afterwards for some time, it just totally drains me.”
(This is Rachel Prince and her fiancee Lee Warwick before she is touched by water form Daily Mail)
(this is Rachel Prince after being touched by water from Daily Mail)
This story published in Daily Mail claims that only 35 people in the world are allergic to water.
This intriguing story made me wonder if she is off her rockers or if this is actually real?
According to MD Health, “aquagenic urticaria is a rare form of physical urticarial (chronic hives). This condition causes a rash or hives to appear whenever the patient comes in contact with water. Itching and pain may also be present. This condition will appear regardless of the condition or temperature of the water, though there must be no skin lesion present to differentiate this condition from aquagenic pruritus or aquadynia. Aquagenic urticaria tends to affect women more than men, though infantile patients are equally susceptible to this condition. Patients going through puberty are the most likely to manifest symptoms of this condition.”
Ok, maybe she is not off her rockers because this skin condition actually does exist. Here are a list of symptoms:
- “itching and burning
- rashes or erythema surface between 1 to 15 minutes of exposure
- 10-120 minute lesions
- difficulty swallowing, wheezing, or subjective respiratory distress” (Daily Mail)
This rare condition is said to be most common in women and usually start around puberty time. “The exact underlying cause of aquagenic urticaria is currently unknown. Due to the rarity of the condition, there is very limited data regarding the effectiveness of individual treatments; however, various medications and therapies have been used with variable success.“
According to the National Center for Advancing Translational Science, there are a few treatments that help reduce the pain:
- “H1 antihistamines
- Propranolol
- Ultraviolet B (UVB) light treatments (also called phototherapy)
- Durabolin (an anabolic steroid)
- Creams that serve as a barrier between water and the skin
- A low dose of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, in combination with cyproheptadine and methscopolamine”
Unfortunately, as interesting as this skin condition is to be able to conduct experimental studies you need to have a large group of patients. Given that there is less than a fifty people with this condition worldwide, its difficult to conduct and repeat studies to full understand aquagenic urticaria. Also, as we all know to conduct experimental studies scientist need thousands or millions of dollars and valuable resources. Is a skin condition so rare that about 35 people in the world are affect worth such valuable resources?
This topic is indeed very interesting. To think that someone is allergic to their own bodily fluids and to taking a shower is simply bizarre. Also, since our bodies are composed of such a high percentage of water, this just seems ridiculous. I guess this allergy is real though since articles have been written about people with it. I wonder if these people actually suffer a lot or if they are simply used to it by now. I like that you bring up the subject of doing studies and how hard it can be to do one with such a small number of people who can participate. This situation reminds me of when Andrew mentioned in class that some cancers have a high recovery rate these days while others still have a very low chance of recovery. In particular he spoke of how prostate cancer has a low rate of recovery because of its rarity compare with other cancers such as childhood leukemia.
This is probably the most mind-blowing thing I found out about recently. After reading this post I became very curious and found the article that links aquagenic urticaria to be developed due to lactose intolerance and deseases such as polymorphous, atopy, cholinergic urticarial, light eruption, HIV infection, and people with Bernard Soulier syndrome have a higher chance of developing this condition.
I heard about this allergy years ago and found it hard to believe considering we are all made up of around 60% of water, including lungs, bones, and even skin. http://water.usgs.gov/edu/propertyyou.html It leads me to speculate that there may be another chemical actually prompting the reaction such as chlorine in the water or any other unnatural substance. Out of curiosity, I researched what is mixed in with our drinking water and what we consume without ever noticing and found a list of chemicals on http://freshlysqueezedwater.org.uk/waterarticle_watercontent.php. Some, but not all, include nitrates, pesticides, hormones, and fluorine. We come into contact with water multiple times a day and never think anything of it, but with this condition, she can not wash her hands, take a shower, drink a glass of water, or stand in the rain without experiencing harsh pain.
I can honestly say that I have never heard of anyone being allergic to water. I cannot imagine how anyone can live like that. Doesn’t all food and liquid have some level of water content to it? I am really curious about how someone develops this allergy. Is it a gene mutation? It’s so strange to think about, especially since there are only 35 people who have it. You brought up a very good point about the problems with looking for a cure. How DOES one conduct an experiment if there are only a few test subjects? I definitely learned something new from this, and I hope that they find a cure for those poor people.