Here’s a scary thought. Imagine suffering a nightmare of horror, conspiracy and medical mystery, yet being called delusional or psychotic by your doctor and others. Imagine you might have Morgellons Disease.
People who suffer from Morgellons Disease describe feeling as though insects are crawling under their skin. They may have a number of other symptoms as well but, in most cases, they center on unexplained skin rashes and eczemas, and the appearance of fibers and granules coming out of their skin. Some say that they’ve seen insect-like parasites emerge from under their skin and fly away.
Sounds like a freakish ailment from a horror movie, doesn’t it? Some experts believe it’s a psychiatric phenomenon, yet hundreds of people swear it’s a real physical condition. And now the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is paying California-based health care giant Kaiser Permanente $338,000 to interview and test patients suffering from Morgellons’ bizarre symptoms in a one-year study being conducted in northern California, the source of many of the reports of Morgellons (pronounced mor-GELL-uns).
I’m reminded of another once unknown condition: Lyme disease. Like Morgellons, Lyme disease affects sufferers with myriad symptoms, many of them similar to Morgellons. But unlike Morgellons, Lyme disease is now recognized and can be identified through medical diagnostics and lab tests. Let’s hope the Kaiser study leads to better understanding of Morgellons and relief for its sufferers.
For more information: Morgellons Research Foundation; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.