Morgellons

This is some research I am doing fo ra friend. Here are some images of Morgellons I found online. 

Morgellans Notes (A collaborative work in progress)

Morgellons is a multibacterial infection. Later, fungal infections arise. ( http://www.morgellons-research.org/morgellons/morgellons-intro.htm )

First Record: 17^th century French “harsh hair” fiber, this may be Morgellans disease described.

Many people report symptoms but still very rare (20,000)

Symptoms and Notes

• ·        Fibers (in many colors)
• ·        Contagious (close contact?)
• ·        Multisystemic
•       Permanent disorders come from it (ALS symptoms similar? Also seem to see Foot drop, palsy, neurologic decline, brain fog, thyroid issues and sometimes a correlation with iodine and/or Vitamin D deficiency)
• ·        Mistaken for other issues (fibromyalgia)
• ·        Coinfection (including skin based bacterial issues)
• ·        Texas, Florida, 2002 California Outbreak (prompted CDC investigation)
• ·        Suffering and pain (cause and cure not known)

o   Muscles and walking hurt

o   Feeling of something under the skin (blanket? Feeling)

o   Personal Accounts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfxCLy8Fz6Q

§  Feeling of a string like one is surrounding the body

§  Can weigh up to 30 lbs?

§  Strings Will react to stimulation (being cut)

Fiber Qualities

• ·        Grow from inside the body?
• ·        Does not match anything in FBI database (not a known synthetic or natural fiber)
• ·        Glow under UV light
• ·        Different colors
• ·        Fibers resist gas examination
• ·        Keratin?
• ·        Need to use microscope to see fibers
• ·        Small lesions may look like a pimple but have fibers

Treatment Ideas (with medical guidance)

• Light Therapy https://www.omicsonline.org/morgellons-disease-a-chemical-and-light-microscopic-study-2155-9554.1000140.php?aid=5477
• Vitamin D (if a blood test indicates low Vitamin D)
• Iodine (BE CAREFUL! ASK FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL GUIDANCE)
• Check for coinfections (treatments)

Veterinary Findings

In Cows (bovine digital dermatitis): https://www.lymedisease.org/morgellonsandcattle/  and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257881/  and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5072536/ and plenty mooooore

Pet Industry Risk

https://morgellonspgpr.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/morgellons-a-message-to-pet-owners/

Coinfections

• Borrelia spirochetes https://www.lymedisease.org/new-studies-morgellons/ http://www.thecehf.org/what-is-morgellons.html  (Borrelia spirochetes was found by researchers [3 were Morgellons Disease Foundation affiliates] in one study)
• Borrelia burgdorferi primary cause of lyme disease
• Borrelia mayonii* newly discovered (confined to upper Midwest US) and also causes lyme disease https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0208-lyme-disease.html
• Lyme Disease (Babesiosis) 
• Opportunistic infections
• Fungal coinfections (Aspergillus Fumigatus infection?)

·        *New Lyme-disease-causing bacteria species discovered in early 2016. Borrelia mayonii closely related to B. burgdorferi. Symptoms are a fever, headache, rash, and neck pain in days followed weeks later by arthritis. Exposure first causes nausea and vomiting, diffuse rashes (not a single “bull’s-eye” rash), elevated bacteria concentration in the blood. Carried by blacklegged (or “deer”) tick.

     2002 California Outbreak (prompted CDC investigation).

     https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0208-lyme-disease.html (new agent

     Biofilm

    Want to learn more about biofilm a protective coating made by bacteria? Here are a couple of videos about another pathogen I suggest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRKhsAYeyIE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be-mjOGiquk

Unusual Reports

It forms biofilm ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23962172  ), do they take over the body and stimulate keratin structures? Or like many fungi, is it a reproductive, spore releasing structure?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRCbLF8v4wo <---removal of morgellan debris

A report of seeing something moving for a fraction of a section in the site where the lesion begins

Agrobacterium- The signs of a two person study indicate that pathogenic Agrobacterium, which is shown to create cellulose fibers located in sites of infection inside the host tissues. This would be a case of plant bacterium moving into a human to cause disease. http://jim.bmj.com/content/55/1/S123.4  

CDC Report

Delusions of parisitosis (imagining something in the skin) studied by CDC Study of North California. https://www.cdc.gov/unexplaineddermopathy/ argues against the disorder and one interesting things is it actuality shows coinfection results by those with the complaint which are actually pretty compelling correlations for a multibacterial infection. Which is kind of funny they found so many bacterial infections and said they "found no pathogens." As confusing as their results found, they cited the fibers as most likely cotton. Their studies were based off skin (biopsies by a dermatologist), blood, urine and hair.

https://www.cdc.gov/unexplaineddermopathy/qa.html

The Basics on Pathogens and Disease (primers I wrote)

Pathogens: The Basics http://unicornsandanimals.blogspot.com/2016/02/discussion-6.html  <--a primer I wrote on pathogens, parasites, bacterial infections and more

Study and Control of Pathogens and Diseases http://unicornsandanimals.blogspot.com/2016/02/discussion-3.html

What Spreads disease and toxins: http://unicornsandanimals.blogspot.com/2016/02/discussion-4.html  (a primer I wrote)

Resources

Savely, V.R., Leitao, M.M. & Stricker, R.B. Am J Clin Dermatol (2006) 7: 1. doi:10.2165/00128071-200607010-00001. https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00128071-200607010-00001

Filament formation associated with spirochetal infection: A comparative approach to Morgellons disease. Article in Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology · November 2011. DOI: 10.2147/CCID.S26183 · Source: PubMedhttp://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1014.1344&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Med Mycol. 2014 Jan;52(1):2-9. doi: 10.3109/13693786.2013.819592. Biofilm formation by Aspergillus fumigatus. Kaur S1, Singh S. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23962172

ABC News. 2008. Alien Fibers: Morgellons Disease – ABCs 

Clinical, Epidemiologic, Histopathologic and Molecular Features of an Unexplained Dermopathy

Michele L. Pearson, Joseph V. Selby, Kenneth A. Katz, Virginia Cantrell, Christopher R. Braden, Monica E. Parise, Christopher D. Paddock, Michael R. Lewin-Smith, Victor F. Kalasinsky, Felicia C. Goldstein, Allen W. Hightower, Arthur Papier, Brian Lewis,  [ ... ], for the Unexplained Dermopathy Study Team [ view all ]

Published: January 25, 2012 . http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0029908

Morgellons disease, illuminating an undefined illness: a case series

William T HarveyEmail author, Robert C Bransfield, Dana E Mercer, Andrew J Wright, Rebecca M Ricchi and Mary M Leitao

Journal of Medical Case Reports20093:8243

DOI: 10.4076/1752-1947-3-8243©  Harvey et al; licensee Cases Network Ltd. 2009

Received: 28 November 2008Accepted: 17 March 2009Published: 1 July 2009 https://jmedicalcasereports.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.4076/1752-1947-3-8243  

287 CONTRIBUTION OF AGROBACTERIUM TO MORGELLONS DISEASE. R. B. Stricker, V. R. Savely, A. Zaltsman, V. Citovsky

Published 12 January 2016 http://jim.bmj.com/content/55/1/S123.4