According to a story from BioPortfolio, a recent study claims the Morgellons disease, a condition that has been shrouded in confusion and controversy, is not a delusion as some prior studies have claimed, but is in fact very real. Morgellons disease is an unusual skin condition that has long been associated with tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease.
Morgellons disease has often been considered a medical mystery, and remains one of the most obscure and unusual medical conditions. To much of the medical community, Morgellons is regarded as a delusional parasitosis. The condition is characterized by disfiguring sores from which fibers of different colors grow. The condition is almost always self-diagnosed. Symptoms include intense itching at the sight of the sores, crawling sensations underneath the skin, fatigue, problems with concentration and loss of short-term memory. To learn more about this controversial phenomenon, click here.
In previous studies, the strange fibers were found to be fragments of cloth, but in this one, the blue fibers were found to be comprised of collagen and keratin. Melanin was found the be the cause of the blue coloration, but the origin of other colors still remains a mystery. The study, funded by the Charles E. Holman for Morgellons Disease Foundation, also highlighted the presence of brain lesions on the scan results of some patients that claim to have Morgellons. This is more evidence that suggests that the condition may be more than just a delusion.
Researchers theorize that the disease is the result of an abnormal response to the presence of tick-borne microbes in the body. The Borrelia bacteria, which is responsible for Lyme disease, has also been detected in Morgellons skin tissue samples. Despite this evidence, it may not be sufficient to change the opinion of the medical community overnight about the nature of Morgellons disease. While the researchers claim that many prior studies are flawed, there is considerable prior research that failed to conclude that Morgellons was anything more than a delusion.
