Morgellon's disease

[Guest guest]

Put " Morgellon " in your search engine. There are many people who have

been affected by this disease and many theories on what it is or is not.

 

 

 

, " Fran "

<frannyjo wrote:

>

> Hi everyone, Today in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette there was an

article that I have enclosed about a disease called Morgallon's

disease and I was wondering if anyone on this site has heard of it,

has treated it or what ever, Any information you have about dealing

with it would me greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Fran

>

>

CDC gives $545,000 to study mysterious skin condition

> A mother's battle against son's mystery ailment pays off

> Thursday, January 17, 2008

> By David Templeton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

>

> A family photograph shows Mary Leitao, center, with her children:

Samantha, Drew and Jeremy.

> When Mary Leitao's 2-year-old son began growing fibers from his skin

in 2001, little did she realize the ordeal she faced.

>

> Physicians couldn't explain it. Mrs. Leitao, who was living in

Peters, Washington County, at the time, named it Morgellons -- a

temporary name, or so she thought, that described a skin condition

documented in France in the 1600s.

>

> In 2002, she created the Morgellons Research Foundation, which

advocated that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in

Atlanta investigate the mysterious ailment, which features strange

skin fibers, rashes, sores, fatigue, mental confusion, joint pain and

other symptoms.

>

> Mrs. Leitao said she still doesn't know what causes the ailment, but

her seven-year effort finally is paying off.

>

> Yesterday, the CDC announced plans to launch a $545,000 study of

Morgellons.

>

> Dr. Michele Pearson, the CDC's principal investigator, said the

center has received a number of inquiries that prompted the study.

>

> It will focus on patients of Kaiser Permanente Northern California,

a health plan that has documented a number of Morgellons cases.

>

> Dr. Pearson said it will take a year to complete the study, which

researchers hope will lead to better understanding of Morgellons'

cause and possible treatments. Testing will include interviews with

patients, medical evaluations, skin biopsies and mental health

assessments.

>

> " What is clear is that those who suffer from this condition and

their families and physicians have questions, and we want to help them

find meaningful answers, " said Dr. Pearson, noting that further

studies may be necessary.

>

> The foundation, whose Web site is www.morgellons.org, has registered

more than 11,000 families. In November, it notified the CDC that 37

percent of those families report multiple members afflicted with the

illness.

>

> More than 200 Pennsylvania families are registered with the

foundation. Residents of Canada, Europe and Australia also have

reported having the ailment.

>

> " I'm very pleased that they are taking action, " Mrs. Leitao said.

" Of course, I would have liked all of this to have happened much faster. "

>

> She said she hopes the CDC can identify not only the cause but the

best treatment. Some people, she said, have gotten better on

antibiotics. Her son Drew, 9, has improved with treatment, and skin

fibers no longer are apparent.

>

> " People are suffering in pretty big ways, especially when they feel

they are shut out of medicine and can't have their problem

recognized, " Mrs. Leitao said.

>

> Although many questions remain unanswered, Dr. Pearson said the time

has come to recognize Morgellons as a problem. " We can't characterize

it as a syndrome, but people clearly are suffering, and what they are

experiencing is real, " she said.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Yes, I've heard of it, but I can't say that I know anything about it, other than

that its sufferers present with a wide variety of symptoms, most notably the

weird fibers growing from their skin. I also know that, like fibromyalgia and

chronic fatigue syndrome, most physicians are NOT taking it seriously and are

treating it as a psychiatric disorder (delusions, hysteria).

 

Sadly, I saw an obituary for a rather young person in the paper a few years

back that did not specify what the individual had died from...but there was a

request at the end of the obit to donate to the Morgellon's Fundation in lieu of

sending flowers to the funeral. --So I am inferring that the individual either

directly died of the syndrome or possibly committed suicide, due either to

frustration with the medical profession or to being unable to cope with the

horrid symptoms of the disease itself.

 

 

 

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