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Morgellons' disease causes patients to have itchy skin lesions, to feel the presence of worms under the skin, and to find a variety of fibers in their skin. However, it is not really known whether morgellones can be called a disease at all - most doctors believe that Morgellon disease simply does not exist, and some people believe that it is caused by … aliens.

Morgellon disease(sometimes calledmorgellon ) is probably one of the most unusual diseases in medicine. This is because for some medics it doesn't really exist. Other experts argue that the problem may indeed be a rare condition, but knowledge about it is currently insufficient. Still other researchers argue that Morgellon's disease is in fact a variant of one of the earlier mental disorders known to medicine. The history of the problem began in 1674, when the syndrome of ailments occurring in patients was described by Thomas Browne as Morgellon's disease. The individual is extremely rare, however, analyzing the cases of people suffering from it, it was possible to conclude that it is most often faced by middle-aged women.

Morgellons' disease: symptoms, or what patients complain about

The ailments of people with Morgellons disease are quite characteristic. Patients develop skin lesions that may be accompanied by severe itching. In addition to them, patients may experience a strong belief that there are worms crawling or biting them on or underneath their skin. Such ailments would make it possible to suspect the existence of a specific form of delusional disorders in people experiencing them (the so-called parasitic hallucinosis), although other problems also appear in the course of Morgellons' disease. One of them is the existence of atypical - at least apparently - fibers on the skin and inside it. Ultimately, it turns out that these fibers are … fragments of clothing. Symptoms of Morgellons disease can also be some kind of ailments of a general nature, such as:

  • feeling of chronic fatigue,
  • concentration disorders,
  • problems with the functioning of short-term memory.

Morgellons disease:why did it become famous at the beginning of the 21st century?

Morgellons' disease was first mentioned in the 17th century, so why did this topic become popular more than 300 years later? Well, in 2001, a woman named Mary Leitao was concerned about the condition of her child. There was a disturbing skin lesion in the area of ​​the 2-year-old's lip, which his mother decided to examine using a microscope (let's add that it was a microscope intended for children's games). In this way, she discovered the existence of multicolored, unusual, fiber-like creations in the aforementioned area of ​​the child's body. Mary's baby also complained that she could feel worms crawling under her skin, and it is perhaps no surprise that Mary Leitao sought medical attention. The woman visited many specialists, but none of them found traces of any organic disease in her child - if the specialists gave any recommendations, they were rather that a visit to a psychiatrist diagnosing delusional disorders could help the child. Some recommendations even applied to the mother - it happened that the doctor suggested the existence of a certain form of the so-called Munchhausen syndrome. The mother disagreed with the doctors and, using Browne's description, suspected that her offspring had Morgellons' disease. To take a closer look at the problem, a special organization, the Morgellons Research Foundation, was set up. Among the assumptions of the organization, among others, the need to warn mankind against the dangers of Morgellons' disease, and to gather information on the cases of other patients who also suffered from the same entity as Mary Leitao's child.

Morgellons' disease: causes, or what causes margelonka

Hypotheses about the etiology of Morgellons disease can be very different - some of them could even be scientifically substantiated in some way, others may even cause laughter. One of the main theories is that it is the individual who develops a delusional disorder. Some doctors, in turn, are trying to find a connection between Morgellon's disease and the tick-borne disease, which is Lyme disease. Among people who analyze the causes of Morgellon's disease, there are also people who believe in conspiracy theories. It turns out that there are opinions according to which the causes of individuals would be environmental pollution, nanotechnology or microbiological weapons. You can also come across the idea that Morgellons' disease is caused by … influences exerted on people by extraterrestrials.

Morgellons disease and the media and the environmentscientific

Morgellons disease was of interest not only to people associated with the Morgellons Research Foundation. Due to the fact that in the first decade of the twenty-first century there were more and more reports of new cases of this disease, the American CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) decided to take a closer look at the problem. The work of the CDC began in 2006 and took some time - it ended 6 years later. In the end, it turned out that no parasites were detected in the bodies of the examined people, and the fibers found in their skin came simply from clothing. Information about Morgellons disease was also (and still can be) found in the media. Publications on morgellonka appeared both in the medical press (such as the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology), but in other titles such as the Washington Post. These reports had various overtones, but one can distinguish more interesting media opinions about the Morgellons disease. For example, there were theses that morgellonka is an infectious disease that can be infected on … the Internet. It is usually diagnosed by people who themselves came across information about the individual posted on the Internet. Some authors also pointed to a problem in the field of psychiatry. Well, delusions are the views presented by the patient that are inconsistent with the actual state and with which other people (apart from the doctor) also disagree. In a situation where the phenomena related to Morgellons' disease were started to be believed by many people, there could be a problem of its own - then could beliefs about the disease still be considered delusional? You could look at it from a different angle as well - maybe just people, convinced of the truth and reality of Morgellons' disease, are experiencing some form of group paranoia?

Morgellon disease: is it a treatable?

It is difficult to clearly define the management of a patient with Morgellon disease. Most likely, such a person should be cared for by a psychiatrist, but will such a patient really be willing to undergo it? Currently, it is largely believed that Morgellons' disease is not actually the case. However, there are still people who are not easily disposed of and still deal with the problem of this "disease". It is possible that in the future there will be new concepts regarding the pathogenesis or treatment of morgellonka - currently the disease still arouses a lot of controversy in some environments.

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Category:

Dermatology