Morgellons Disease - A Controversy Worthy of Examination

Morgellons Disease or Morgellons Syndrome is a condition embroiled in controversy. There are some in the medical community who believe that the disease doesn’t exist, while others await more research before they will admit of the possibility.

The condition mimics several other conditions, some of which are psychological, others, like Lyme disease and scabies, are recognized and treatable. However, despite many claims of special ointments and creams that can “cure” Morgellons, to date there is not only no cure, but because the medical community has yet to recognize the disease, no research is being performed to discover treatment.

The symptoms of Morgellons are persistently itching of lesions that produce tiny hair-like growths of an unknown origin, joint pain and swelling, fatigue, confusion, and, most disturbing of all, the sensation of one’s skin crawling, as if there are bugs beneath the surface, that has led to suicide in more than one occasion.

Even a popular online encyclopedia, adds a disclaimer that the information regarding Morgellons, stating that the facts in the article are disputed.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention affirms that the condition does exist, but has yet to confirm that this condition constitutes a disease, let alone an infectious one, despite the fact that many of those who have developed the condition have a close member of their family also affected.

A grassroots organization, the Morgellons Research Foundation, began in 2004 to raise public awareness about Morgellons to a skeptical medical community. Many dermatologists, while acknowledging the skin lesions are real, believe that Morgellons is nothing more than delusional parasitosis, a psychological disorder that causes people to imagine that their skin is crawling with parasites and scratch at “imaginary” bugs. They cannot account for the fiber-like material that is formed within the lesion. The fibers are mostly white, some are blue and black and in rare occasions, some are red.

An early proponent of the cause to raise public awareness about Morgellons is Randy Wymore, an assistant professor of pharmacology and physiology at Okalahoma State University. Wymore is one of the directors of the Morgellons Research Foundation and studied the fibers against the known database of fibers contained in the FBI’s database. The fibers do not match anything found in the FBI’s files, contrary to the skeptics who believe that they fibers are merely remnants of clothing or other particles.

In an interview with LiveScience, an Internet company, Wymore contended that the fibers were more than just remnants of household lint and that the medical community could better serve the world by researching the condition instead of debating the existence of the disease. Apparently, no one in the medical community wants to admit that human beings can produce blue thread-like fibers.

To date, no clinical studies have been done to research the fibers or Morgellons. The condition has appeared in only one paper has been published in a medical journal.

Despite the fact that the Research Foundation has 1,200 people afflicted by the disease registered in their database, relief is not likely to come soon. As the condition remains a mystery, and people continue to suffer, the medical community remains embroiled in controversy regarding Morgellons. And as long as the disease is dismissed as being a psychiatric condition, it is unlikely that relief for those affected will come anytime soon.

To discover more about Morgellons, contact the Morgellons website.