CDC Study Finds Fibers Aren’t Cause of Morgellons

WSJ ^ | 1-25-2012 | Shirley S. Wang

[Dysart]

A long-awaited government study on a mysterious skin condition known as Morgellons disease concludes that it isn’t infectious or caused by something in the environment. It also is very rare, affecting fewer than 4 in 100,000 people surveyed.

(The study appears in PLoS ONE.)

However, it isn’t possible to say from the data whether the mysterious skin condition — “unexplained dermopathy,” as the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention calls it — is a new ailment or part of an existing condition like delusional infestation, according to the researchers from the CDC, Kaiser Permanente Northern California and several academic institutions.

“We believe that these people have something and their quality of life [has] in some instances been very seriously impacted,” says Mark Eberhard, the CDC’s director of the division of parasitic diseases and malaria and a study author. “We’re not saying this is made up. There could be a constellation of factors.”

Much of the fascination with the condition has stemmed from reports that these individuals have fibers or material coming out from their skin. They also have skin lesions and often describe itching or stinging sensations.

In the new 115-patient study — believed to be the largest to date and eagerly anticipated by the Morgellons community — analyses showed that the fibers came from clothing or the environment, not any biologic material. There is “no evidence” that the fibers cause skin lesions or sensations, according to Eberhard.

[iowamark]

Just because an illness is psychiatric in origin doesn’t mean that it is any the less real. Let us hope that effective treatments can be found.

[Dysart]

Right. I think that’s essentially what the study found and recommended... said as much if not explicitly. Although they wanted to be clear about their findings on nature of the “fibers” claims. That’s good.

[Scythian]

Morgellons a is real phsyical condition, I know, I experienced it for 3 years, it was dreadful, it’s not very rare, that’s a lie, even the doctor on FoxNews claimed he had many patients claiming they had this condition and he’s in NY not California. There are many freepers who have contacted me privately stating that they have this condition. I’m one of the few that has basically been able to rid myself of it. It is not merely a skin condition, hardly, it’s devestates you.

Simply because the CDC could find no cause is not the same as saying there is no cause. That’s like saying there is no gold in China. I don’t care what anyone thinks on this subject honestly, I was pinged on this thread and this is my reply. I have nothing to prove, those who have it know, and many doctors have it, I’ve spoken with them.

There is a list of excellent articles here tying it to dental adhesives: http://www.parasitetesting.com/morgellons.cfm

If you want to believe that it was all in my mind fine, I really don’t care.