Friday, February 16, 2007

Delusional Parasitosis

Delusional parasitosis is a syndrome in which the patient has the fictitious belief that he is plagued by some type of parasite. Although this is a psychiatric disorder, patients usually seek care from dermatologists. DP has various causes. It may occur as the sole psychologic disturbance, or it may be associated with an underlying psychiatric disorder or physical illness. A dermatology-psychiatry liaison is advocated for establishing a viable differential diagnosis and selecting appropriate therapy. The antipsychotic agent pimozide is now the most effective treatment when DP occurs as an encapsulated delusion. Pimozide therapy takes careful monitoring because this drug has various potentially serious adverse consequences, and relapse often happens on discontinuation of the drug.

The symptoms of delusional parasitosis (a psychiatric disorder) are very similar to those presented by Morgellon sufferers who reject conventional diagnosis of their symptoms, and opinion in the existence of parasites infested within them that cannot be observed except by the patients. There is no agreed upon differential diagnosis since Morgellons is not an accepted medical condition at the present moment.

Morgellons Disease Symptoms

The symptoms of Morgellons are often characterized as non-healing skin lesions associated with unusual structures that look like multi-colored fiber-like (filamentous) strands. Mutiply colors have been found (white, blue, black, red). In particular a burning or itching sensation as if microscopic parasites are crawling on or under the skin.

Many of the symptoms are shared, but no one symptom is shared by all individuals, but painful sensations under the skin and accompanying physical structures (fibers and granules) are the most consistent symptoms reported. Adults and youngsters both have been reported to have contracted the disease. Individuals in families can have the disease while other members do not, it is not yet know how contagious the disease is.

In fact we still truly don't know how people get infected in the first place. A select few Morgellons sufferers actually complain of seeing insects flying in and out of their skin. There is no grounds to believe at the moment of Morgellons being a seasonal disorder. There are infected patients who claim to have had the symptoms for as long as two decades. The only connection found so far is that more than half of the Morgellons patients are also diagnosed with Lyme disease (borreliosis). It appears that once patients contract the disease, they have it for life. To date, there have been no reports of spontaneous remissions. Morgellons is a multi-symptom skin disease.

It has a number primary symptoms:
Physical-Symptoms * Non-Healing Skin lesions * Sensation of crawling and biting from under the skin (Unknown Arthropod or Parasite) * Appearance of multi-colored fibers and granules protruding out of the skin * Fatigue * Joint swelling or hair loss

Mental-Symptoms * Short-term memory loss, brain fog * Attention Deficit, Bipolar or Obsessive-Compulsive disorders (OCD) * Impaired thought processing

History of Morgellons Disease

A Mysterious Skin Disorder is currently spreading across America, and doctors are searching for answers on how to stop the possible epidemic.

The skin Disorder has already been found in thousands of people in FL,Lone-Star State and Golden State, though all 50 states have had reported cases. It has been reported throughout Europe, Republic of South Africa, Japanese Islands, Philippine Islands, Republic of Indonesia and Commonwealth of Australia. Doctors tell them the "bugs" they feel and sores they see, are only in their minds. Also difficult, is the patient's treatment by the medical community who have little time for or knowledge about the disease, and in some cases have lacked complete compassion for the infected. In medical terms, they are delusional parasitosis. Morgellons is an unusual parasite-like disease of the skin, which produces irritating sores all over the body. These non-healing skin lesions ooze blue fibers, white threads and little black specks of sand-like material.

"The name Morgellons was struck in 2002 by Mary Leitao of McMurray, PA, while investigating her son's unexplained rash. She named the condition Morgellons (with a hard g), after a condition from the monograph A Letter to a Friend by Sir Thomas Browne, in 1690, wherein he describes several medical conditions in his experience, including that endemial distemper of children in Languedoc, called the morgellons, wherein they critically break out with harsh hairs on their backs. A 1935 paper by British doctor C.E. Kellett identifies the name morgellons with the Provençal term masclous, or "little flies". It is dubious that the 17th century disease has anything to do with modern day Morgellons, however the similarities were such that Leitao elected to use the name as a consistent label when addressing politicians, physicians and health departments."

Friday, January 5, 2007

Morgellons Syndrome

A Horrifying and Fascinating Skin Disease is affecting thousands of people in the Bay Area, along the Gulf Coast, Florida and through out the world. The disease is called Morgellons, and no one knows what causes it or if it's even a real skin disorder. People with weird symptoms with no alternatives available at the moment; find comfort and a diagnosis on the Internet. After more than a year of pressure from patients convinced they have Morgellons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will begin investigating the ailment for the first time and determine, once and for all, whether the Morgellons disease exists.



It was named 2002 by Mary Leitao in McMurray, Pa. Leitao named the condition Morgellons Disease, after a disease with similar symptoms mentioned in a 16th-century medical text, while investigating a skin condition on her then two year old son. Nobody had every heard about it before then. Till this day, few doctors have heard of the condition; fewer still know what to make of it. Most in the medical community dismiss it as a hoax, scabies, Lyme disease or a mental condition called Delusional Parasitosis. Delusional Parasitosis is a mistaken belief that one is being infested by parasites such as mites, lice, fleas, spiders, worms, bacteria, or other organisms.



Most victims with this skin disease report painful crawling, stinging, and biting sensations, as well as non-healing skin lesions, which are associated with fiber like or filamentous structures. Victims as well have reported the presence of seed-like granules and black speck-like material above and in their lesions. The reaction of medical professionals has made a difficult situation even harder for victims. Dermatologists claim the filaments are all delusions, although none had taken the time to even study them.



Oklahoma State University Professor Randy Wymore was the first scientist to conduct research on this skin disease. He says it's the biggest mystery he's ever been involved in. Wymore says his tests rule out not only textile fibers, but also worms, insects, animal material and even human skin and hair. He says the filaments are not an external contamination. Instead, they are a substance that materializes somehow inside the body, apparent artifacts of something infectious. If no medical professionals take the time to study this, we may never know the truth as it continues to spread.