Posted on 05/19/2006 3:46:43 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
Moreover, trying to do diagnostics from the observations of a 17th century Englishman with "interests in medicine" is virtually impossible. (It's a hobby of some doctors with an interest in history, but it's always conjectural, like the speculations that Henry VIII had syphilis and transmitted it to his children.)
The modern syndrome, whatever it is, was simply named after the 1600s disease. Many people assume (and I imagine were intended to assume) that it's the same disease. You're one of them.
I wouldn't trust a 17th century medico to describe anything accurately from a modern standpoint (you should read some of their stuff describing diseases that we know are still extant - like TB. Some of it is very off the wall.)
I saw it. Reporters make mistakes.
Yep. Look at the way they treated Lyme Disease....
Tammy8 wrote: "The only proof we have from that time is a description, there is no way to know if it is the same thing. I have read descriptions of illnesses in a PDR and yet many times the illness isn't that at all, just something that sounds the same. I am not a Dr and don't even pretend to know anything about this one way or another. I just think it is odd that this lady is linked to it in 2 states now and she is not a Dr either- she is a nurse practitioner. It may be a real ailment that is being blown off by Drs, but it could also be that this lady is looking to promote this for whatever reason."
Tammy it is entirely possible that the nurse practitioner
- Forged the excerpt from the History of Medical Annals and then posted it online. It's also possible that the nurse practitioner is
- Impersonating Randy S. Wymore, Ph.D. assistant professor of pharmacology and physiology at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, currently doing research on Morgellons disease. It's also possible that the nurse practitioner
- Wrote this today for the Times Online UK, or bribed someone at the Times Online UK to write it. It's also possible that the nurse practitioner
- Paid off the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology to publish the abstract on Morgellons disease. It's also possible that the nurse practitioner
- Bribed the National Institute of Health /Entrez Pub Med to further a hoax.
All is possible, Tammy, and most of the possibilities are dependent upon your willingness to look for a conspiracy around every corner.
Yikes...
My knowledge stems from reading all available research, and not from harboring the assumption of conspiracy reflected in your post.
MEASELS
I want to thank you for giving me my best laugh of the day with this post to me.
1. I admitted to not knowing anything about this one way or the other.
2. I was under the impression we could post our opinions on articles, where do you see a conspiracy theory in my posts? I stated it could be real or not- I don't know.
3. I really don't care.
No conspiracy theory on my part- BTW, do you have some personal interest in this that makes it a hot topic for you or do you just like acting arrogant, or are you baiting me for some reason?? I have not posted one thing as fact on this topic, all just speculation and conversation on my part and I even said it could be real or not- meaning I haven't even decided whether I believe it or not.
In other words- WTF is your problem??
Egad! I think I read a Frank Herbert book on something like that.
Um, I know that. I was responding to the quote in your post.
If so, perhaps you'd better point the researchers in the direction of the Annals of Medical History where the existence of Morgellons disease was discussed in the 1600s on the European continent.
That's a pretty vague description. I think I'll trust today's doctors for diagnosis instead of someone from the 1600s. BTW, did you happen to read the rest of that article from where you pulled the quote?
Had to look it up:
mycelium
. The vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, threadlike hyphae.
. A similar mass of fibers formed by certain bacteria.
There is no published research on this. There is a website that collects and reports testimonials and posts irrelevant pics with false, or misleading captions. The abstract link you posted is not to a study, but to a particular practice's opinions on a limited number of their patients. The docs involved failed to ID what actually was wrong with their patients and to characterize the common findings. Note the patients were not diagnosed with Morgellon's disease, because their is no such thing- other than psychosomatic complaint. There are no lesions caused by psychosomatic complaint.
The pics at the morg site are of skin scrapings from bullous, or vesicular lesions. They are fingernail scrapings, not biopsy specimens. They mean nothing. Every single image that contains fibers show that they are loose fibers simply laying on the surface. There is no evidence whatsoever that they emanate from any lesion. One report IDed them as cellulose. The fact is that these fibers remain absolutely uncharacterized. It takes virtually no effort to do that. Since it has not been done, there is even less reason to believe any of this.
The lesions themselves fall into all sorts of classification. Again, they are not characterized and there are no histological reports, or findings. In total, all this hype about this xfile disease means is that the docs these folks have been going to don't have a clue about how to go about determining their patient's illness. That includes the clueless PhD at the OK univ.
It also beats me how they can only show intact vesicular lesions, when the common complaint of morg's is incessant itchy, scatchy, painful crawling sensations. They should all be excoriated.
I would also look into the connection to Lyme disease and chronic meth or heroine use as possible causes. The Lyme disease could possibly produce the physical and mental symptoms described.
I think the Lyme disease connection is something to look into.
One medical professional in Austin, Texas may have found a clue to the Morgellon’s mystery. Ginger Savely is a nurse practitioner who specializes in treating the tick borne Lyme disease. She also has first hand experience with the mystery disease. "Right now I think I have about twenty eight Morgellons patients," says Savely. According to Savely, the anti-biotics she gives to patients with lyme are also working on some Morgellons patients.
It's possible some new type of Lyme disease is wrecking havoc on people's minds.
Lyme is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. They'd find the anti bodies to it, or the other symptoms present in the latent disease stages.
See #96. Placebo effect you think?
I think those patients that are responding to antibiotics simply have a bacterial infection of unknown cause. Penicillin is used to treat primary Lyme and the later stages of the disease.
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