Morgellon's Disease

Published

Is it really a disease, or are they deluded? Who knows?

http://www.ksbitv.com/hotlinks/3216861.html

http://www.morgellons.org/europe.html

i thought i would share this information. the agrobacterium finding has been known for several months, but what the implications are is still in the research stage. i am putting up a few sentances about it. also, the first morgellons medical conference is set for march, 2008 in austin, tx. one of the key researchers in this agrobacterium finding will be there as a presenter.

sunny :specs:

agrobacterium, a plant pathogen, has been linked to morgellons syndrome

agrobacterium is a genus of gram-negative bacteria that uses horizontal gene transfer to cause tumors in plants. agrobacterium tumefaciens is the most commonly studied species in this genus. agrobacterium is well known for its ability to transfer dna between itself and plants, and for this reason it has become an important tool for plant improvement by genetic engineering.

the agrobacterium genus is quite heterogeneous. recent taxonomic studies have reclassified all of the agrobacterium species in to new genera, such as ruegeria, pseudorhodobacter and stappia, but most species have been reclassified as rhizobium species.

although generally seen as an infection in plants, agrobacterium can be responsible for opportunistic infections in humans with weakened immune systems,[1][2] but has not been shown to be a primary pathogen in otherwise healthy individuals. a 2000 study published by the national academy of sciences suggested that agrobacterium attaches to and genetically transforms several types of human cells by integrating its t-dna into the human cell genome. the study was conducted under laboratory conditions and states that it does not draw any conclusions regarding related biological activity in nature.[3]

there is a conjectured connection with morgellons syndrome. dr. stricker, along with dr. citovsky, mrf board member from the state university of new york at stony brook and an expert on plant pathogens, reported in january, 2007, that morgellons skin fibers appear to contain cellulose. five skin samples of morgellons patients contained evidence of dna from agrobacterium.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/agrobacterium

scientific/medical conference on morgellons

http://www.cherokeechas.com/austin308.htm

"searching for the uncommon thread"

march 29, 2008

8:00 am - 5:00 pm

austin, texas

this event is being sponsored by the the new morgellons order, a non-profit organization with irs 501 © (3) status. in honor of it's founder, the nmo is also known as the charles e. holman foundation. our all volunteer staff is dedicated to fundraising for scientific research and medical education, raising public awareness, and providing support for those who suffer with this unexplained illness.

although much of the lecture content will be geared toward medical professionals and scientists, we encourage patients and supporters to attend as well. our goal is an informative, educational and inspiring event that will be beneficial to all!

guest speakers:

randy s. wymore, ph.d.

tulsa, ok

research director, center for investigation of morgellons

oklahoma state university-center for health sciences

topic: "research update"

raphael b. stricker, md

san francisco, ca

sub-specialty training in internal medicine, hematology, and immunology

board of directors ilads, international lyme and associated diseases society

board of directors clda, california lyme disease association

topic: "controversies in newly emerging disease"

elizabeth rasmussen, ph.d.

laramie, wy

doctorate in clinical psychology, author of "debunking dop"

sub-specialty training in microbiology and immunology

topic: "dermatology...how it is taught and how it is practiced"

harriet bishop, president, txlda

austin, tx

morgellons patient

president of texas lyme disease association

topic: "staying positive to cope with morgellons"

ginger savely, fnp-c

san francisco, ca

pursuing her doctorate in nursing practice with a thesis thesis on morgellons, ms savely practices in sf, ca

having seen over 200 morgellons patients, her experience has become world renown.

topic: "clinical aspects of morgellons"

mark darrah, bs

stony brook university

morgellons research director

mark darrah's research includes sem, ftir and raman microspectroscopy. presentation will also include findings by dr. vitaly citovsky on identification of agrobacterium as related to morgellons disease.

topic: "morgellons research presentation of scanning electron microscopy and fiber/substance analysis "

david gibbs, ms, cdrp

austin, tx

social security specialist, disability claims professionals of texas

experienced and successful disability representation for morgellons and lyme disease

topic: "social security benefits as related to morgellons disease"

gregory v. smith, md, faap

gainesville, ga

pediatrician in private practice for 28 years

board certified by the american board of pediatrics.

fellow, american academy of pediatrics

member ga chapter of aap including serving

6 year term on the ga chapter board of directors

morgellons patient

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Specializes in Psych (my husband says I fit right in!).

I'm curious if anyone has had a patient with this syndrome, or if any of ya'll have even heard of such. The patient will have lots of scars or open wounds that look like huge, deep scratch marks, and will complain of feeling like bugs are crawling all over just underneath their skin. They may also state that they've pulled 'fibers' from the wounds that are either black, blue, or white. It's not scabies, but could be a type of lyme disease. Doctors and physicians can sometimes diagnose this as a psychiatric disorder, and/or as DP (Delusions of Parasitosis). The number of people that have been complaining of this disease is growing, and because of numerous complaints, the CDC is finally looking more seriously into it. For more information, go to: http://www.morgellons.org/

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PACU.

Message removed because it seems like the Moderators merged the above post with this thread.

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Specializes in LTC, Home Health.

I worked in a LTC facility a couple years ago, and we had a pt who's wife insisted he had it. We never had a dx from his doctor though. That was the first time I ever heard of it, but she described the exact

things you just did.

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This disease is fascinating. I wrote a paper on it for Physiology. I go to Oklahoma State University and Dr. Rhonda Casey at our Tulsa hospital is one of the nations leading experts on Morgellons.

Google "Dr. Rhonda Casey & Morgellons" and you will hit the jackpot.

One of the things I found most interesting is that when the Tulsa Forensics/Crime lab ran these fibers through a battery of tests they were unable to match them with ANY other fibers in their extensive database. Suggesting that they were indeed manufactured by the body or possibly parasitic in nature and not implanted by an OCD/psychotic client as is the current consensus by many doctors and therapists.

In researching for the paper the saddest thing I came across is that so few people are believed when they present these mysterious fibers that they are frequently put on anti-psychotics. Sadly after years of suffering, with no end to the pain in sight, many of them end their own lives believing that this is their only option.

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Specializes in Too many to list.

Morgellon's Syndrome

I found this article over on Avian Flu Diary. His blatant plug, as he calls it,

explains why this is well worth reading as McKenna has both excellent

credentials, and is well connected. Anything she writes is both interesting

and well researched, better than most of what has been available on this

very bizarre syndrome.

I look forward to the day when we get to hear what the CDC has to say

about this. Psych disorder vs the reality of a currently unrecognized

but debilitating disease, what will they decide?

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2008/09/blatant-plug.html

...deciding whether a new disease exists is a long, contentious process

of doing interviews, performing physical exams, conducting lab

experiments, crunching data with computers, trawling textbooks for past

cases and searching for a reasonable explanation if one isn't immediately

obvious. At the end of the process, disease detectives ideally want to end

up with an agent--a bacterium, a virus, a genetic trigger or a toxin--that

causes the symptoms they are seeing, a set of symptoms that only one

thing can cause. An official designation as a disease means that sufferers

are taken seriously; tests are devised to help make a diagnosis,

treatments can be researched and insurance usually ends up paying for

care.

The more cryptic the cause or symptoms are, the longer the process takes

and the harder it is for the medical establishment to recognize a new disease.

So far, Morgellons has two strikes against its being recognized as a distinct

disease: Hundreds of conditions share many of its symptoms, and no one

can imagine what would make specks and fibers emerge from intact skin.

What little has been written about it in the medical literature essentially says

that Morgellons is delusional parasitosis, in which disruptions in brain

chemistry cause the unshakable belief that organisms are digging into and

sprouting from the skin.

...the agency is moving cautiously. Its preliminary objectives are to

understand Morgellons symptoms (the first step in sorting out how common

the illness is), who is most vulnerable and what the cause might be. The

study is a joint project with the northern California research division of the

giant HMO Kaiser Permanente. California seems to be a Morgellons hot spot,

and Kaiser uses electronic medical records--which allows investigators to

search among 3.5 million patients for complaints of fibers and either skin

lesions and/or itching or crawling sensations.

...Randy Wymore, Ph.D., a medical school professor at Oklahoma State

University at Tulsa who has become an unexpected champion of the

Morgellons community. He was doing an Internet search on muscle fibers

in the spring semester of 2005 when he stumbled onto a website

discussing a fiber disease. Intrigued, he read for a moment, thought it

seemed crazy, closed the link and went back to his other work. But the

topic nagged at him, and a few days later he called up the search again.

...Dr. Casey found something odd: tangled skeins of dark fibers, not stuck

to the surface of rashes or popping out of pores, but buried in intact skin.

Wymore asked two forensic experts at the Tulsa Police Department who

had access to national fiber-identification databases to have a look at the

fiber samples. They were stumped, he says. The fibers had no cuts or

extrusion marks that would establish them as man-made and no internal

structures such as cell walls that would make the case for natural origin.

The fibers did not lose their color in any solvents or detergents. At 1,600

degrees Fahrenheit, they did not burn.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Dangit, this disease and the thought of it terrifies me beyond all belief, yet as soon as I come across information about it, I can't stop reading.

Saw Cindy Casey on "Mystery ER" last night, and now once again I have drudged this horrid disease up in my mind and I can't stop reading about it. I really hope that the medical community gets their collective heads out of their butts and figures out that this is a real disease, and finds a treatment.

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Morgellons is indeed a real disease. I have been involved with these terrified patients for over 3 years now and I can tell you that this is a physical disease with horrific cognitive issues that might lead one to believe that this is DOP. It is not. At present, the only attributable deaths have been suicides due to deep depression and the disbelieve of their loved-ones. They feel alone and isolated which often times they are.

These victims also suffer physically presenting symptoms analogous to Fibromyalgia and CFS. Antibiotics do NOT help them in any way. Morgellons victims become hopeless because their caregivers tell them "it is all in your head, dear" when in fact Morgellons has enveloped their bodies from the inside with fibers that eventually break the skin, cause non-healing lesions that never seems to heal. Multi-colored fibers that grow from their flesh are unmistakably real.

These unfortunate people need our love, understanding and compassion just like any other patient does. They do NOT need to be treated like HIV victims were treated 30 years ago; just because the disease is "not in the book" does not mean that it is not real.

The only known effective treatment (NOT a cure) is Nutrasilver. FDA-certified lab tests demonstrate amazing kill rates for most of the really bad pathogens and also demonstrate zero toxicity. (posted on their website). Most Morgellons patients experience resolution of their cognitive issues in 2 weeks and healing of their lesions in about 3 weeks. Continued used is required to keep the symptoms under control. Daily doses costs approximately $3.20 a day so it is certainly affordable. Many Practitioners are beginning to take Nutrasilver themselves to prevent self-contamination from Morgellons infections.

sincerely,

Danser

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Dancer :

your reply indicates you have no first hand experience with Morgellons . I do . I have suffered with this for over 5 years now and to quote you "Antibiotics do NOT help them in any way"

Is Incorrect ! Nothing known to man as of today CURES Morgellons BUT Tetracycline 500 mg in the morning and 500mg taken at bed time DOES help Many of us and gives our lives back. Ben on it for 2 years now .It stoped the crawleys and biting and some of the sore spots ..

The silver howerever has done NOTHING for anyone with morgellons beside making our skin blue year round and should not be used for prevetave or a treatment Peiod ! Unless you have this then you have no clue and doctors dont as well . This Horror took most everything away from those who have it and the ignorance of the medical comunity has done nothing but spread morgellons it is VERY contagious !! Silver does not take that away either or protect us from morgellons . Until you have an MD after your name please remember , we nurses can not DX or treat anything .

Morgellons people need a careing GP not a nurse who continues where the nuts posting on cure boards leave off .

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I am so sorry to hear that you have Morgellons; it is by far the worst disease imaginable and the suffering you have endured is horrific. My heart goes out to you and all who suffer from this life-stealing disease.

I actually have 3 years of experience working directly with both patients and scientists on a global basis. Your comment about Argyria is completely incorrect; there have only been 5 people out of millions who takes CS that have gotten argyria and all of them took home-made CS and prepared it incorrectly. You also assume incorrectly that NutraSilver is run-of-the-mill CS; it is not. It was created by a Nobelloriate 12 years ago and is credited with saving millions of lives in third-world countries from water-borne pathogens.

FDA-certified test are published here: http://www.nutrasilver.com/pages/fda-certified-laboratory-reports should you wish to read the facts on this product.

I agree that there is no known CURE for Morgellons at this time, but Nutrasilver puts Morgellons in remission. It does it every time for every Morgellons victim who takes it as directed. BTW, we have many MD's who not only take Nutrasilver themselves, but they give it to their patients with great success. Care to see? Take a look at these pictures: http://brandytwirl.multiply.com/photos/album/1/Morgellons_Pictures_Before_and_After_Treatment This woman had Morgellons for nearly 10 years and was 1 day away from suicide; she has been symptom-free for 2.5 years now although she takes a maintenance dose each day to keep it in remission.

You are right; I do not have "MD" behind my name. The medical profession looks at Morgellons the same way they did HIV 25 years ago: with closed eyes and closed minds.

Yet thousands of Morgellons patients are symptom-free because of Nutrasilver; you may wish to try it yourself. We both know the detrimental effects of long-term antibiotics, don't we? There are no harmful side effects from Nutrasilver and FDA-certified lab test demonstrate zero toxicity.

I wish you the very best and pray that your suffering ends soon. Blessings to all.

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NS does not put Moprgellons in remission thousands of us have reach remission with different antibiotics . Your reply sounds like a sales pitch for NS that I have used and your incorrect . Unless you have had this you will remain clueless like the doctors out there , you just cant get your brain around this period . Telling peers to take NS as a way to prevent getting this is dangerous cause the bottom line is no one knowes what morgellons is as of this time . Everything is speculative not fact

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