The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today that it is launching a study to learn about an unexplained condition that causes people to feel as if they have foreign substances growing from their bodies.
People with the condition, referred to as Morgellons disease, say they have fibers and other inorganic material growing out of their skin.
“We earnestly want to learn more about this unexplained illness, which affects the lives of those who suffer from it,” said Dr. Michele Pearson, principal investigator leading the study for the CDC, in a press release. “Those who suffer have questions, and we want to help them.”
“We have a team of epidemiologists, laboratorians and pathologists to carry out the study,” Pearson said.
The study will be conducted in conjunction with Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Division of Research. For more information, CLICK HERE to visit the CDC’s Unexplained Dermopathy Web site.
In 2006, a number of Morgellons sufferers told ABC News in interviews that when they consulted doctors, they received diagnoses they called wrong or dismissive. Brandi Koch, the wife of former Major League Baseball player Billy Koch, said that she felt as if she were living in a horror movie, claiming she had colored fibers coming out of her skin.
Koch, of Clearwater Beach, Fla., said that her life was good until one day in the shower when she noticed something strange — tiny fibers running through her skin.
“The fibers look like hair, and they’re different colors,” Koch said.
Koch said she knows that what she experienced “sounds crazy,” but it’s true. “If I had a family member call me up and say, ‘I have this stuff,’ I’d say, ‘I’m sending a straitjacket over. You need some help,'” she said.
Anne Dill described a similar condition. Looking at Dill’s life in Florida, she seemed to be living the American dream — her three daughters excelled in sports and were straight-A students.
But life in the Dill household was far from idyllic. Anne’s 40-year-old husband, Tom, died in January 2006, and she believes his death was due to a contagious illness that has infected her entire family.
Dill described her family’s skin: “There’s this fibrous material. It’s in layers.” Dill said the skin on their hands was particularly bad, very swollen and itchy, and said it felt as if bugs were crawling underneath the skin.
Consulting Doctors
Dr. Greg Smith of Gainesville, Ga., has been a pediatrician for the past 30 years. He claimed that a fiber was coming out of his big toe, and he had video footage to prove it.
“It felt like somebody stuck a pin in my toe and wiggled it, and it just continued to hurt,” Smith told ABC News in 2006.
He said he never thought he had bugs. “I’ve certainly had those crawling sensations, and the fibers which come out of the skin are really bizarre, and really odd.”
Smith was handed over to a hospital psychiatrist when he went to the emergency room complaining of a fiber in his eye. He admits that he, too, would be skeptical if a patient came to him with the same story.
“I would wonder if they’d taken their medicine that day. It makes no sense. It’s totally bizarre. It’s something that — just telling the story is so outlandish on the face of it — that no one would believe it,” Smith said. Dill’s doctor told her to stop scratching, even though many of her sores were in places she could not reach.
Koch went to the Mayo Clinic, where doctors didn’t believe that the fibers she’d brought them had grown from her body.
“I saw the infectious disease doctor, and I showed him some samples that I had and he snickered,” she said. “I can’t go through another doctor blowing me off or looking at me like I’m crazy. I know I’m not.”
Dr. Vincent DeLeo, chief of dermatology at New York’s St. Lukes-Roosevelt Medical Center, weighed in on what he’d say to someone who came to him with this condition. “I don’t think this is any different than many patients I’ve seen who have excoriations and believe that there is something in their skin causing this,” he told ABC News in 2006.
DeLeo said the open lesions were most likely a result of scratching the skin.
Relying on Your Own Research
But biologist Mary Leitao refused to accept the medical skepticism surrounding Morgellons.
Leitao’s son, Drew, was just 2 years old when Leitao noticed an odd sore on his lip that would not heal.
“He very simply said ‘bugs,’ and he pointed to his lips,” said Leitao.
Leitao never expected to find herself at the center of a medical storm. But when her son complained about the strange sore, the biologist, who once ran the electron microscope at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, did what any scientist would do. She took a closer look.
“What I saw were bundles of fibers, *** of fibers,” Leitao says. “There was red and blue.” Even stranger, they glowed under ultraviolet light.
Armed with research, Leitao took her son to a doctor at one of the country’s leading hospitals. He dismissed her tale of fibers and wrote to her pediatrician, saying that her son needed Vaseline for his lips and that his mother needed a thorough psychiatric evaluation.
Undaunted, Leitao began poring through medical literature looking for clues. What she discovered was a 17th-century reference to a strange disease with “harsh hairs” called “Morgellons.”
She named the strange fibers Morgellons disease and put the information on a Web site, Morgellons.org. At the time of her interview in 2006, more than 4,500 people had contacted Leitao, claiming they had Morgellons-type symptoms. The name stuck, and the disease was featured on the television show “ER.”
But do these fibers grow from inside the body, as Morgellons patients believe, or do they come from the external environment — a kind of lint — as the medical skeptics say?
Searching for an Answer
Forensic scientist Ron Pogue at the Tulsa Police Crime Lab in Oklahoma checked a Morgellons sample against known fibers in the FBI’s national database. “No, no match at all. So this is some strange stuff,” Pogue said in 2006. He thought the skeptics were wrong. “This isn’t lint. This is not a commercial fiber. It’s not.”
The lab’s director, Mark Boese, said the fibers are “consistent with something that the body may be producing.” He added that, “These fibers cannot be manmade and do not come from a plant. This could be a byproduct of a biological organism.”
Dill said she looks at pictures of her family and finds them unrecognizable. “My kids have to see not only their dad but their mom disintegrating, and that’s gotta be really scary.”
While they wait for evidence that they hope will convince the medical community to take them seriously, some Morgellon’s sufferers wear pink bracelets that say, simply, “Fortitude.”
Pictures of Morgellons Disea
Pictures can be viewed at the following location: Morgellon’s Disease Pictures
Hope you enjoyed the story and pictures of Morgellons Disease
Update on Morgellons treatment and possible role of Actinomycetes
Feet:
My heels had ¼ inch thick scales with visible fissures. I never had this problem of thick layers of dead skin on my feet until I contracted Morgellons. After many attempts, I was able to find something to remove this. I bought a metal callus remover made by Healthy Accents. (Be sure to follow cleansing instructions after use) First, I applied a liberal amount of “Neutrogena: Deep Clean Cream Cleanser (oil free)” to the heel of the foot and used the metal side of the callus remover to scrub away the dead skin. The difference is amazing.
Wound Care:
I have resumed the daily use of diluted Dakins Solution* for two reasons. First, the dark pigmentation returned to some of my wounds. Secondly, I believe that Actinomycetes may be a major component/ cause of Morgellons.
Actinomycetes are anaerobic, gram positive rods that grow slowly in culture. It is very difficult to diagnose this infection by culture alone, and the laboratory must be instructed to specifically culture for this anaerobic bacteria. Even when collected properly, the culture may be negative due to its slow growing nature and the fact that even one recent dose of antibiotics may inhibit its growth. A negative culture does NOT rule out this disease.
Most commonly, Actinomycosis (the condition of having Actinomycetes infection) is diagnosed by collecting pus from a wound or from a draining sinus tract, and looking for “sulfur granules” (yellow or orange grainy stuff). The drainage is collected and crused between two glass slides and examined microscopically. The presence of sulfur granules, along with other s/s of this disease, is diagnostic.
Actinomycosis can cause wounds that drain from a different location, by channels under the skin. When I removed thick crusts from the top of my foot, a copious amount of yellowish fluid seemed to come from beneath the skin and quickly accumulated on the surface of the foot. I wiped the fluid away several times, but each time it re-accumulated. If only I had had supplies with me, I would have collected it for microscopic exam. Frankly, I was shocked at the amount of stuff coming out-I had never seen anything like it before!
Also, I wash my sheets with hot water at least every other day. I wash my bath towels in hot water after every use, and use a small amount of bleach.
*Dakins Solution contains bleach and contact with the eyes must be avoided. Also, it can ruin clothes. If money is a concern, Dakins can be homemade.
Carla,
I have used diluted Dakins Solution (full strength =0.50%) on/in my wounds once or twice a day. I dilute the Dakins with an equal amount of water. It is sold over the counter and can be ordered by a local pharmacy. It contains bleach so care must be taken to protect the eyes from contact. The Dakins has helped. (Obviously, check with the pharmacist for contraindications, etc.)
I suspect that my wounds are partially caused by Actinomyces bacteria introduced into the skin by a parasitic (scabies) infestation. Actinomycosis infection causes chronic wounds that drain and may contain colonies of organisms that resemble grains of sand. The accumulation of these colonies of bacteria can give the appearance of “sulfur granules” that look yellow or orange. Additionally, the surface over the involved area may have a hard or woody consistency.
Laboratory confirmation is difficult because the bacteria are slow growing-cultures take two weeks or more. Actinomycosis is usually sensitive to penicillin, but treatment with antibiotics may be needed for months.
You might want to check out the following web site regarding one possible cause of Morgellons: http://www.rense.com/general78/nano911.htm
Don’t give up hope. Together, we can beat this manmade curse.
The phenomenon of Morgellons (I’ll refer to it as M from this point on)is oblvuosiy bizarre and terrifying. The M crisis is a weight on my heart and mind, truly.The main struggle (for me) at this juncture is the utter lack of knowledge regarding the origin, biology, and a definitive compilation of symtoms. This set of problems carries with it the question of WHY there has been such a lag in research development by the Center of Disease Control (CDC). The widespread accounts provided by M suffers concerning their Doctor’s disbelief and/or diagnosis of some psychosis is suspicious. I do not wish to address any kind of Conspiracy Theory yet.I want to offer some advice/guidelilnes to those whose post or will post comments to this or any Morgellons related site:1. Pay attention to the integrity (by this I mean, spelling, grammar,etc.) of your posts! I know this may seem petty and unimportant, but please realize that your credibility is important!Example: If I write, Believe me, I’m a docotor and I know what I am talking about, I’m not stoopid! How would you perceive me? More importantly, how would your perception have changed if I had spelt those words correctly? I hope my point is clear here.2. If you make a claim, you have GOT to back it somehow if you expect anyone to take you remotely seriously.Example:J. Coronado states above that, it is passing to every one in contact with an infected person just by been around, it goes thru the air and gets to peolpe and animals. That is a strong statement, regardless of the gram. errors. Welcome new (even valid) information? Of course, but why should I believe you? If Coronado had sited his source, his comment would have held some validity. Without it, it has none.3.As the M issue becomes more and more publicized, it will probably become increasingly difficult to sift through all of the M accounts on the internet and decipher whether or not they’re genuine or fabrications. Example: So, Minister Mary, how many times WERE you bitten by brown recluses over the course of six months as you claim to have been? You must have a lot of scarring from the flesh-eating quality the brown recluse’s venom has on the body! {I do apologize if i am just misunderstanding this post but i must admit that if I am, I do not see how!}feel free to contact meemail: Jaclyn Cross
You make some good points and I agree that when possible, those of us who post should use citations (if available), or explain the rationale for our conclusions. Unfortunately, there is very little legitimate research in the literature and so we rely on our own observations.
As far as the CDC and the lack of research on M: the CDC “studied” Morgellons and the report can be viewed at http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0029908
Carefully critique the study and check out the peer-reviewed comments. It is painfully obvious that the CDC study design was seriously flawed and the study was a waste of tax-payer dollars.
I personally believe anaerobic Actinomycosis is a co-factor in Morgellons. However, it is interesting that this disease/class of bacteria and the infections it causes is not listed in the CDC A-Z directory of diseases. Perhaps this is just a bizarre coincidence. Strange, how I can obtain information about some of the most obscure diseases in remote areas of the world, but the CDC excludes a condition that has been increasing in the United States. (Google Actinomycosis and IUDs.) I had to buy two books on Infectious Disease (4000 + pages) to obtain basic information about signs/symptoms and diagnosis of Actinomycosis.
Perhaps the following is also coincidental:
Modern Morgellon’s disease began and peaked after George W. was elected. Remember, we also had an outbreak of military grade Anthrax not long after W. was elected.
George W. classified scientific information that had been in the public domain for decades. Maybe that explains why Actinomycosis could not be found on the CDC A-Z disease web site.
The CDC was reluctant to study Morgellon’s (under Bush), but did so after pressure from Congress.
The CDC study on Morgellon’s disease was a sham, but it is being used as “evidence” to discredit those infected and to delay meaningful research for the etiology and a cure.
woman4humanrtz
Thank you for your advice .
I’ve read that eating cloves of garlic can be effective, and have been doing so (toast and jelly enables me to eat it without burning my mouth). It seems to be working somewhat. The fibers are coming up through my sores as well as through my unbroken skin (even fingers, forehead, everywhere) with hundreds of overlapping, soft, white, sesame-seed-looking things on them. They never end…they just go layer after layer deeper into my skin, and the deeper I look, the larger are the sesame-seed-looking things that grow upon the fibers. I am not going to inflict sores any further, I just wanted to see their depth. However, if I don’t remove them from atop my skin, they keep building upon each other into an unsightly mound – ugly!
I’ve read more than once that Vit. D & C, and sunshine (Vit D) help erradicate these low-life -living-off-humans-suckers (using the word “parasite” seems to invoke cynicism); I’m going to go mow grass and spend the day outside to see if this is effective.
I have only shown the “sesame-seed things” to my primary physician. He pulled some of these things out of me saying, “This is just the tip of the iceberg”. He’s a general practicioner –doesn’t know what to do about them. We’ve tried Vermox – it helped me expel some of them, but they just came back.
This is baffling, to say the least. My lips are absolutely FULL of the strands of fibers with white sesame-seed-looking-things. They have turned my lips to a white color. The intern and physician at the Infectious Disease Center had nothing to say about my white lips, even when I pointed out this odd phenomenon out to them. Their lack of reaction seemed odd to me.
‘Enough! ; ) ‘Sorry… I had only meant to say thank you for your advice! : ) Thank you!!
Carla,
Try the Guava juice twice daily to help prevent the scales. To help remove scales, use a thick layer of Neutrogena “Deep Clean cream cleanser Oil free)”. Apply the Neutrogena to the feet and cover with 100% cotton socks. Organic cotton is best if you can find it.
You might be interested in the readers’ comments made about the CDC Morgellons research study and the role that genetic engineering of plants could play. http://www.cdc.gov/unexplaineddermopathy/
Click to go to the full article to get the readers’ comments. Good luck.
CARLAMR: Yes, I did submit pieces of the white fiber to an infectious disease office; the findings were that they were not a fungus or parasite. I maybe should have asked if there has been a new name given for a living entity growing in, taking over one’s body, and eating one alive. In fact, an intern at that office asked me why I called it a parasite instead of something like, “creepy, crawly things”. I did not laugh, believe it or not. I merely explained to this soon-to-be doctor that any living thing that feeds off of a host, i.e., a virus, bacteria, tick, mosquito, etc., is typically known to be called a parasite. Possibly he was trying to help me to avoid being called Delusional by the big, bad, doctor, who, incidentally, stood right beside me as I sat on the examination table, and told his two interns that “she is Delusional – we call it Morgellon’s Disease”.
‘Blessings to Mary Leiteo, her tenacity, and for reaching out to the public.
I have been struggling with this dermal malady for approximately 7 months now. I originally named the long thin white things that would come out of my face: “Long Thin White Things”. It’s a relief to know that there is a recognized name (other than Delusional) of the condition (organism) that has taken over my skin (‘sounds Twilight Zonish).
For these many months, my lips have been plagued by fibers, puss, gel-like “stuff” oozing out, stacks of tiny, clearish, block-formed “gel stuff” with tiny thin white things” in them (eggs? seeds?). I decided to let them grow, just one time, and they DID grow, and turned into hundreds of worm-looking creatures that I felt I had to pull out of my lips before stepping out of my house. I now attempt to keep them tweezed-off before they grow up to be big, fat white things.
I had no feeling in the affected portion of my lips when I pulled the adult white things out, although, when they first settled there, it was very, very painful.
Also, has anyone else experienced the yellowish, waxish “stuff” that they build up on one’s skin if one messes with them for very long? When I scratch this “stuff”, it causes no sensation whatsoever, except pressure to my skin below it. It covers the long thin white things so that I can no longer find them. This puts me on edge, a bit…to even THINK that intelligence fits into the mystery of these long thin white things….
I have layer upon layer of fibers in my lips (who needs botox when you can have Morgellons Disease?) face (including nose), arms, legs, feet, and MANY in the heels of my feet.
Severe fatigue is frustrating to deal with, but has been an unfortunate symptom since these long thin white things have started growing in my body and coming out of me. (I’ve also noted that they will attach themselves to each other and run through one’s skin in the form of a ribbon–and that it is incredibly strong in this form – unbreakable, in fact.)
My dear brothers believed that stress was causing me to be depressed and delusional (they had read about Delusional Parasitosis on the wonderful world of the web). Three days after the memorial of my best friend of 31 years, the Hwy. Patrol parked in front of my house, came to my door, and presented me with a judge-signed decree, mandating that I was to be involuntarity committed to the University of Missouri Mental Health Center. I was handcuffed, shackled and chained (I’m not exaggerating, unfortunately), and taken there on December 21, 2011 through 12/28/12. Merry Christmas!
As I’ve mentioned, my skin is no longer MY skin. In addition, my ideal weight is 114 lbs (5’2″), but I have gained 10 lbs. While I eat healthy food, my intake is limited, and the scales should reflect a LOSS of 10 lbs.
Thank you so very much for this website. I’ve paid multiple physicians to call me delusional, and I grow weary of learning of the wide-spread ignorance about this thing that has taken over my body, as well as the nonobjectivity of these multiple physicians. In all fairness, though, unless you HAVE this debilitating condition, or spend some time with someone who HAS this condition, and/or research it, you really have nothing to gain by acknowledging it, particularly as there is no cure, as yet, and the AMA pooh-poohs the very concept of Morgellons Disease.
Lastly, I am in utter amazement at the speed with which these long thin white things grow. I can pick a “patch” of them out of my skin, then literally WATCH them grow back within a minute’s time. This too tends to make me a bit nervous.
I must go about my days’ business of attempting to be normal. I feel for each of you that have written into this forum, and hope that we will find a workable method to kill these fibers (long thin white things), and can take back our own bodies.
Hasnt any doctors or labs done and testing, once these fibers are removed from skin to see what these fibers are made of or consist of??
I appreciated all the insight and information from everyone who has posted here… I spent 8 or 9 months of attributing the signs and symptoms to the mundane. I only started wondering if they might be something else when I went from healthy to nearly helpless almost overnight. It took a wide awake nightmare for me to see reality…
I’d had the sores on my head for quite some time, but then I had picked at those. When they started appearing on my back I decided to try a deep pore cleansing mud pack (This area had been tingling for months). When I started rinsing it off, all these THINGS popped out and were wiggling down the outside of my back. I could feel others migrating downward on the inside. The holes left in a couple of places were large; at least 2-3 mm and remained open for hours.
I made the mistake of going to the emergency that night and telling my primary physician the following day. I say mistake since the only “help” I was given was a referral to a psych.
Of a more significant nature, is that shortly after my ordeal I realized my dog was showing similar symptoms. I vowed not to say anything to the vet, but when blood tests turned up nothing, lung and heart xrays only possible anomalous shadows, I started ranting about things that can take on the characteristics of whatever they are on; how they can change color and texture with the blink of an eye…
He sent me home with 3 medications, one was Doxycycline. She started going downhill fast after that so a different spectrum of antibiotics were perscribed..
I buried her a few days later. She was soon to turn three and at times I think it would be better to join her rather than spend the rest of my days trying to maintain a body that no longer is even my own.
Important Treatment Addition
(Please be sure to read all warnings discussed in my previous post on Jan 21.)
I have noticed that drinking Guava Juice 335 ml (a little over 11 ounces) twice a day spaced about 12 hours apart, greatly reduced the scales and softens the skin. It makes the fibers easier to remove, but the Guava juice must be consumed every day. (Pregnant and lactating women should check with their OB and or Pediatrician to be sure this is not a problem.)
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… From my bad experience, do not remove fibers/follicles from the foot/toes or areas where there is very little skin. The fibers are extremely difficult to remove and are best left alone unless they are causing a wound or significant discomfort, and then, I would only remove the ones in the problem area.
Prior to removal of fibers from the toes/feet, apply a thick layer of the “Neutrogena DEEP CLEAN Cream Cleanser, Oil free” and cover with a cotton sock. Hours later, the fibers release much easier.
Interesting about the Lyme disease. I also had Lyme disease and a positive titer years before Morgellons. Neither I or nor my dog could get rid of it on Doxycycline (typical antibiotic prescribed). Doxy is bacteriostatic which means it only restrains the growth of the bacteria-it does not KILL the bacteria. The bacteria that causes Lyme disease, a spirochete, is similar to the type of bacteria that cause syphilis and the bacteria can lie dormant. I was able to get rid of the Lyme disease by a combination of Ceftin 500 mg bid x 60 days and intermittent Metronidazole (Flagyl)* 500 mg bid x 10 days then off again. Accidentally, I discovered that the Flagyl helped to rid me of Lyme when taken in conjunction with a bactericidal antibiotic (Ceftin). A book about Lyme disease written by a Lyme specialist also mentioned the use of Flagyl (Metronidazole).* This drug can be dangerous in pregnancy and can cause birth defects. Also, alcohol must be completely avoided due to the potential for a severe reaction.
Please read my previous post on what has helped me to improve the Morgellons disease. I am willing to send my photographs documenting significant improvement. Please leave your email address if you would like these.