5 Causes of Hives You Wouldn't Expect

Breaking out in hives is the worst: your skin itches all over, you’re covered in unsightly red welts, and, as if that weren’t bad enough, it’s not always clear what might have triggered them.

What we do know: hives, also known as urticaria, can appear anywhere on the body, including your face, torso, arms, legs, and even inside your mouth and ears. They may range in size from as tiny as a pencil tip to as large as a dinner plate. Hives typically crop up when you have an allergic reaction to a substance—pet dander, pollen, latex—triggering your body to release histamine and other chemicals into your blood. That’s what causes the itching, swelling, and other symptoms.  

Whether someone falls into the category of acute hives (lasting six weeks or less) or chronic hives (more than six weeks), there are a few concrete causes of those pesky red bumps:

Your diet

If you tend to break out in hives after eating shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk, and berries, then you may have a food allergy, says Debra Jaliman, MD, a New York City-based dermatologist and the author of Skin Rules.  

For some, the culprit is obvious—they’ll eat a peanut butter cookie, for example, and immediately break out in a rash. For others, it’s not so cut and dry; symptoms can take several hours to develop. Either way, make an appointment with your doctor if you suspect you have a food allergy. Dr. Jaliman says you’ll likely be put on an elimination diet where you reintroduce one potentially triggering food every week. “Let’s say you’re not eating any of the hives foods and then you add back shellfish and you get the hives again. Then you can pretty much figure it out,” Dr. Jaliman says. After you determine the culprit, nix it from your diet to prevent mild symptoms from becoming chronic. Dr. Jaliman says you’ll likely be prescribed an EpiPen—if you accidentally ingest a trigger food, you could get hives in your throat, which can be dangerous. 

The great outdoors

Insect bites and exposure to pollen can make you break out in hives, but you probably already knew that. What you may not have realized is that direct sunlight, cold temperatures, or strong winds can also bring on hives. And no, this doesn’t mean you’re allergic to the elements. “It’s really more that your skin is very sensitive,” says Marilyn Li, MD, a Los Angeles-based allergist and immunologist.

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While avoiding these triggers could prevent hives from returning, Dr. Li says your doctor may be able to provide an antihistamine that could solve a weather- or temperature-based problem. That way, you can enjoy a hike on a sunny summer day or hold a cold can of beer on the weekend without worrying about a potential hives outbreak.

An underlying illness

Chronic hives can be a telltale sign of a larger problem, and extensive blood work may be necessary to pinpoint the underlying issue. Dr. Jaliman says patients with lupus, lymphoma, thyroid disease, hepatitis, or HIV may have hives as a symptom of their illness. Since these people tend to suffer from chronic hives, medications are the most reliable form of relief.

If you’ve contracted a virus, that could be a cause for hives as well. Dr. Li says hives caused by viruses typically last for six weeks, so if your rash persists for longer, see an allergist to determine another possible cause.

RELATED: 19 Signs Your Thyroid Isn’t Working Right

Your daily sweat session

While your morning jog or post-work weightlifting regimen can boost endorphins, your daily dose of exercise could also be causing you to break out in hives. Why? According to Dr. Jaliman, the body produces acetylcholine, a chemical that can inhibit cell breakdown, as a response to exercise. For some people, the acetylcholine will disrupt skin cells, thus irritating the skin and creating a rash the same way histamine does.

Dr. Li says sweating can also signal a breakout for those prone to hives. The sweat itself doesn’t cause hives, but indicates your body heat rising. For some, excess warmth on the skin, from a workout or other body-heat inducing activity, is enough to produce hives. “Even taking a hot shower makes them break out,” Dr. Li says.

Emotionally charged situations

Intense emotional responses can trigger a hives outbreak. For those with chronic hives, or hives that persist for more than six weeks at a time, stress and anger can heat up the body and cause it to release histamine.

“I’ve seen kids break out in hives from having a temper tantrum,” Dr. Li says. “Certainly, stress that’s anxiety-related can cause more itching in patients who have hives and they start to have more hives as a result of itching and scratching the existing ones.”

For those with chronic hives from heat-induced or illness-induced activities, Dr. Li suggests visiting a doctor to pinpoint the symptoms and receive an antihistamine prescription. “The solutions are individualized and many times may involve just taking a little more medication,” she says.

5 Causes of Hives You Wouldn"t Expect

Majority of those with common cancer types "can expect to live for 10 years"

Large majorities of people diagnosed with some of the most common cancers can now expect to live for at least 10 years, according to the latest estimates drawn up by government statisticians.

Those who develop skin cancer are the most likely to still be alive a decade after their diagnosis, with 89.4% of sufferers able to expect this lifespan, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

More than four in five (80.6%) women diagnosed with breast cancer, the most common form of cancer in females, should also survive for 10 years, given the gradual upward trend in survival, the ONS said.

Anticipated 10-year survival is almost as high for those with prostate cancer, the most common cancer among men. As many as 79.9% of those diagnosed with it can expect to still be alive after such a period.

Only 5.7% of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will live that long, as will jonly 9.8% of people who develop lung cancer and 11.9% of those with brain cancer.

The figures are part of calculations the ONS made for the first time that project how many people diagnosed with certain forms of cancer in 2015 are expected to survive for a decade. They estimate future survival rather than capturing the number of years cancer patients have already lived since diagnosis. They are based on all those diagnosed with the disease regardless of at what stage their cancer was identified.

The figures come as evidence continues to suggest that new drugs, better treatments and earlier diagnosis of the disease are helping to sustain the gradual increase in survival of some, but not other, cancer types. For example, 96.4% of women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009-13 lived for at least a year, while 86.7% survived for five years – the largest numbers on record.

For men, survival rates at one year and five years are highest for those with testicular cancer. Women diagnosed with melanoma of the skin have the best chance of the same highest one-year and five-year outcomes.

“Cancer survival is improving and has doubled over the last 40 years. For a number of cancers, including breast and skin cancer, more than eight out of 10 people will survive their disease,” said Rebecca Smittenaar, Cancer Research UK’s statistics manager. “Research has led to better treatments, new drugs, more accurate tests, earlier diagnosis and screening programmes, giving patients a better chance of survival,” she added.

For example, one-year survival for breast cancer has crept up from 95% for those diagnosed in 2007-11 to 96.4% of those who developed it in 2009-13, while five-year survival rose over the same period from 85% to 86.7%.

But Cancer Research UK is concerned that survival remains stubbornly low for some cancers, including lung, pancreatic and oesophageal forms of the disease and brain tumours. That is mainly because they are often diagnosed too late for treatment to be effective, experts say.

Lynda Thomas, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Surviving is not necessarily the same as living well, and too many people with cancer miss out on the support they badly need once treatment has finished.

“While today’s figures are to be celebrated, they should also act as a warning that as the number of long-term survivors increases, we will need a health service that is able to cope with this increasingly complex situation.”

David Crosby, director of services and engagement at Breast Cancer Care, said: “These extra years of life mean more precious time with loved ones, as well as the ability to continue to work and contribute to society.

“However, readjusting to life after the rollercoaster of breast cancer treatment can be the most traumatic time, for some even harder than the diagnosis itself. They may be struggling with body image or learning to cope with long-term effects of treatment, such as fatigue or painful joints, and living every day with the fear of the cancer returning or spreading.”

Majority of those with common cancer types "can expect to live for 10 years"

Jamie Dimon Diagnosed With Throat Cancer: What He Can Expect

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, explained in an inner letter to staff and shareholders on July one that he was just lately diagnosed with throat cancer and will soon get started getting therapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

He revealed that “the prognosis from my physicians is outstanding, the cancer was caught quickly, and my issue is curable.”

He goes on to make clear that he has obtained a biopsy, as nicely as a CT Scan and a PET scan. His cancer, he additional specifics, is confined to the unique web site, as properly as to the lymph nodes on the correct side of his neck, and that “there is no evidence of cancer elsewhere in my physique.”

Whilst his therapy program is getting finalized, he unveiled that he would be receiving each radiation and chemotherapy over an eight week time period, which is very common in situations in which the cancer is locally superior. The alternative for surgery was not specifically mentioned in any statements released at this time.

Other notable people with recent diagnoses of throat cancer contain the actor, Michael Douglas, former Texas governor, Ann Richards, as well as the late actor Ron Silver.

Background About Throat Cancer

It is critical to realize that throat cancer can be fairly tough to diagnose early in its program due to the fact the signs and symptoms might be vague and patients could not be mindful that some thing far more serious is establishing.  A lingering sore throat is typical, which typically that does not enhance with pain medicine or antibiotics more than a many weeks to months duration. Crucial to know is that individuals in sophisticated circumstances can lose the ability to consume and swallow, as well as their capacity to talk.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase (Photograph credit: jurvetson)

Key risk variables linked with throat cancer incorporate a historical past of smoking as effectively as heavy alcohol use. Shut to 85 % of all head and neck cancers are related to smoking and that risk increases with alcohol use. 85 % of all head and neck cancers are associated to smoking and that risk increases with alcohol use.  Some research have mentioned that individuals who smoke and drink are up to one hundred occasions a lot more most likely to get head and neck cancer than are individuals who do not do both.

Extra danger variables include a diet program minimal in fruits and veggies, as effectively as getting contaminated with the human papilloma virus (HPV). HPV is produced up of a group of near to a hundred different viruses.  HPV sorts 16 and 18 are connected with throat cancer.

Signs that may prompt a doctor to suspect throat cancer may incorporate a sore throat that does not appear to increase with continued treatment (antibiotics or ache prescription drugs or gargling), agonizing or issues swallowing, a persistent cough, or unexplainable weight loss. In addition, any masses or lumps in the throat, neck or oral cavity along with persistently tender lymph nodes or glands want to be extensively evaluated. Bloody sputum or any bleeding in the throat wants to be evaluated by an otolaryngologist or ENT doctor.  Sophisticated tumors that may possibly involve the voice box or larynx might lead to hoarseness or persistent cough.

Most throat cancers are squamous cell carcinomas (SCC).  In accordance to the Nationwide Cancer Institute (NCI), in 2014, it is estimated that there will be about 12,630 new circumstances of laryngeal cancer resulting in an estimated 3,610 deaths, and 14,410 situations of pharyngeal cancer resulting in two,540 deaths.

Cancers of the head and neck account for nearly 3 to 5 percent of all cancers in the US, and are far more common in men, as properly as in individuals above age 50.

The Street Ahead 

Whilst we do not know the exact staging of his tumor or its spot at this time, the presence of HPV as properly as the spot (hypopharynx, pharynx or base of tongue) are essential aspects that will decide his program.

Dimon is scheduled to have eight weeks of outpatient radiation remedy mixed with numerous rounds of chemotherapy.

Jamie Dimon Diagnosed With Throat Cancer: What He Can Expect