# Sorry, I'm new!! Morgellons disease. (moved by samclem) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755 "2010-09-06T01:37:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/21 "2010-09-06T06:25:07Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > The word ‘sheeple’ is one of my key indicators for reliable information. I concur! If a medical article doesn’t contain the word “sheeple” I use it for toilet paper. Thank God most Medical Journals aren’t printed on that heavy bond, glossy magazine stock. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/22 "2010-09-06T14:48:30Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Scientists have discovered a new disease. There are no known symptoms. It is impossible to detect and there is no cure. Fortunately, no cases have been reported thus far. Caused by exposure to neutrino radiation. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/23 "2010-09-06T15:01:46Z")
> [@astro](#): > > > [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > > > The word ‘sheeple’ is one of my key indicators for reliable information. > > I concur! If a medical article doesn’t contain the word “sheeple” I use it for toilet paper. Thank God most Medical Journals aren’t printed on that heavy bond, glossy magazine stock. Note that the word “sheeple” is not being used by a medical article here, but rather by an innocent poster who is basically Just Asking Questions. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/24 "2010-09-06T15:19:39Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Scientists have discovered a new disease. There are no known symptoms. It is impossible to detect and there is no cure. Fortunately, no cases have been reported thus far. I think we’ve found the perfect disease to be treated by homeopathic remedies! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/25 "2010-09-06T15:23:24Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > > [@astro](#): > > > > I concur! If a medical article doesn’t contain the word “sheeple” I use it for toilet paper. Thank God most Medical Journals aren’t printed on that heavy bond, glossy magazine stock. > > Note that the word “sheeple” is not being used by a medical article here, but **rather by an innocent poster who is basically Just Asking Questions**. Bullshit. It was asked by a drive-by shit-stirrer with no intention of hanging around for an answer. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/26 "2010-09-06T15:25:02Z")
What!?! Nooo! ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/27 "2010-09-06T15:31:02Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > > [@Shmendrik](#): > > > > Note that the word “sheeple” is not being used by a medical article here, but **rather by an innocent poster who is basically Just Asking Questions**. > > Bullshit. It was asked by a drive-by shit-stirrer with no intention of hanging around for an answer. Which is not all that different from Just Asking Questions. I mean, note how the OP’s breathless tone lets us know that he is not a longstanding Morgellon’s believer. He’s just stumbled upon some incredibly important and disturbing information which he’d like to share. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/28 "2010-09-06T16:58:23Z")
Perhaps, instead of being caused by genetic manipulation, _Morgellons_ is caused by doubling up on Dr. Scholl’s® gel insoles. “I’m not just gellin’, I’m more gellin’!” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/29 "2010-09-06T17:01:59Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > > [@silenus](#): > > > > Bullshit. It was asked by a drive-by shit-stirrer with no intention of hanging around for an answer. > > Which is not all that different from Just Asking Questions. I mean, note how the OP’s breathless tone lets us know that he is not a longstanding Morgellon’s believer. He’s just stumbled upon some incredibly important and disturbing information which he’d like to share. As **silenus** so eloquently put it:Bullshit. His linked source is a woowoo health site, there’s no proof of the claims and he(?) clearly has done no research in the matter before crying wolf. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/30 "2010-09-06T17:14:30Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > His linked source is a woowoo health site, there’s no proof of the claims and he(?) clearly has done no research in the matter before crying wolf. OTOH, that could describe any number of posters around here. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/31 "2010-09-06T17:30:58Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > > [@Shmendrik](#): > > > > Which is not all that different from Just Asking Questions. I mean, note how the OP’s breathless tone lets us know that he is not a longstanding Morgellon’s believer. He’s just stumbled upon some incredibly important and disturbing information which he’d like to share. > > As **silenus** so eloquently put it:Bullshit. > > His linked source is a woowoo health site, there’s no proof of the claims and he(?) clearly has done no research in the matter before crying wolf. Did you see what **Shmendrik** ’s link pointed to? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/32 "2010-09-06T18:07:25Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > > [@runner pat](#): > > > > As **silenus** so eloquently put it:Bullshit. > > > > His linked source is a woowoo health site, there’s no proof of the claims and he(?) clearly has done no research in the matter before crying wolf. > > Did you see what **Shmendrik** ’s link pointed to? 😃 Thanks. I thought “just asking questions” was a commonly used phrase here. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/33 "2010-09-06T22:51:43Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > > [@RickJay](#): > > > > Nobody can even agree what “Morgellons Disease” is. The symptoms run all the way from unexplained fibers to restless leg syndrome to delusions. > > Whatever it is, I’m fairly certain a good psychiatric pharmaceutical would clear it right up. Oddly (or not) antipsychotic medications have been used with some success in people with [delusional parasitosis](http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1121818-overview) (the current medical consensus is that Morgellons = delusional parasitosis). One of the limiting factors is that people convinced they are infested with undetectable organisms understandably think that agreeing to take these drugs means they are acknowledging their problem is a psychiatric disorder. The CDC (under political prodding) [has been looking into “Morgellons”](http://www.cdc.gov/unexplaineddermopathy/), and is supposed to release the results of its investigation some time in the near future. I suspect that the odds of discovery of an actual new infectious disease with reproducible bizarre manifestations like fibers extruding from the skin are very low. My fearless and possibly wholly inaccurate prediction is that the CDC will ascribe most investigated cases to delusional parasitosis, a small number to unsuspected/misdiagnosed skin manifestations of systemic disease, and an even smaller number to infection, in rare cases by known parasites, concluding that “more study is needed” (hoping against hope that they will not be deluged with complaints from angry Morgies, as many Morgellons’ sufferers call themselves. Interestingly, the CDC’s page on delusional parasitosis which used to be part of its parasitic diseases section, has been taken down). We had a thread on the Dope a few years back in which a claimed Morgellons’ patient posted, including links to her website containing photos of all the glop she supposedly found on her skin. She was not happy with the skeptics. And beyond doubt, these folks are suffering with a troublesome problem - what’s almost certainly **not** the solution is to have them take powerful antiparasitic meds or other drugs, which some have been doing. By the way, [naturalnews.com](http://naturalnews.com) is a swamp of unreliable woo and conspiracy theories, good only for laughs. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/34 "2010-09-07T01:54:07Z")
Gotta love this from the Wikipedia item that **KarlGauss** linked to above: > [@](#): > > In 2001, according to Mary Leitao, her then two-year-old son developed sores under his lip and began to complain of “bugs.” Leitao … says she examined the sores with her son’s toy microscope and discovered red, blue, black, and white fibers… So it’s not a red rash, or a yellow cast to the skin, or a green infection, or even blue varicose veins. Instead, Morgellon’s sufferers break out in … _plaid_? ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/35 "2010-09-07T02:55:07Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > Thanks. I thought “just asking questions” was a commonly used phrase here. Yeah. I was surprised by the whooshes. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/36 "2010-09-07T02:57:11Z")
I have fibers extruding from my skin. I call them “hair.” ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/37 "2010-09-07T02:59:11Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Gotta love this from the Wikipedia item that **KarlGauss** linked to above: > > > [@](#): > > > > In 2001, according to Mary Leitao, her then two-year-old son developed sores under his lip and began to complain of “bugs.” Leitao … says she examined the sores with her son’s toy microscope and discovered red, blue, black, and white fibers… > > So it’s not a red rash, or a yellow cast to the skin, or a green infection, or even blue varicose veins. Instead, Morgellon’s sufferers break out in … _plaid_? I liked the “toy microscope” part better. I bet the colouring of the fibers was just chromatic aberration. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/38 "2010-09-07T12:35:45Z")
I have nothing to add, but would just like to say that until I saw the term “woo-woo” on this site a month or two ago, I had never heard of it. But I like it! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/39 "2010-09-07T13:38:20Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > some sufferers also report systemic manifestations such as fatigue, **mental confusion** , short term memory loss, joint pain, and changes in vision. I wonder which of these “symptoms” is reported most often… ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755/40 "2010-09-07T14:45:45Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > \ > > From the linked article. > > > [@](#): > > > > some sufferers also report systemic manifestations such as fatigue, mental confusion, short term memory loss, joint pain, and changes in vision. > > \ :eek::eek: Damnit, _I_ have all of those! Am I going to die? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-im-new-morgellons-disease-moved-by-samclem/552755.md?page=3)