Mainstream Medicine

Mainstream Medicine

Want to see a giant load of hocum… this Morgellons thing… it's an "internet delusion", or so says the merry band of clowns that wrote this crock of unfounded unscientific psychobabble as a Letter to the Editor "Morgellons Disease as Internet Meme" in "Psychosomatics 50:90 © 2009 Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine" by Andrew Lustig, M.D., FRCP(C), Sherri Mackay, Ph.D., and John Strauss, M.D., M.Sc., FRCP(C), Centre for Addiction and Mental HealthToronto, Ontario, Canada.

Quotes from the "experts" (from http://thenmo.org)

Los Angeles Times - November 13, 2006

Patients for decades have been coming to physicians' offices with complaints of infestation by bugs, says Dr. Noah Craft, assistant professor of dermatology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. But now, when they come in, many are armed with a fat printout of information they've gleaned from the Internet, a community of fellow sufferers with whom they've exchanged information and a name to put to their bizarre symptoms.

"And for all we know, it [the illness] could be real," Craft says. The CDC, for example, could discover that this is an outbreak of delusional parasitosis brought on by some common exposure, such as a neurotoxin. Delusional parasitosis is often seen in recreational drug users (especially those using methamphetamine), victims of stroke and other neurological diseases, as well as in patients with certain vitamin deficiencies. Perhaps, Craft says, some exposure common among Morgellons sufferers may be causing neurological changes that have brought on a common delusion.

Los Angeles Times - November 13, 2006

"The vast majority" of physicians who see these patients, says Torrance dermatologist Mark Horowitz, are in little doubt of the correct diagnosis - delusional parasitosis - and its proper treatment - antipsychotic medications such as Orap or its generic form, pimozide.

It is not, Horowitz is quick to note, because antipsychotic medication has any power against parasites, but because these patients - whom Horowitz and his dermatologist father have seen in the hundreds over 30 years - "have a psychological disorder that's very limited in its spectrum."

In many cases, Horowitz says, they are functioning well in jobs and society, and bear no signs of mental illness. "They act normally," Horowitz says. "But something is wrong."

For the CDC to launch an inquiry into the reported Morgellons symptoms, Horowitz says, is also doing patients a disservice. In addition to wasting time and resources, "What CDC is doing is hurting these patients by reinforcing their delusions," Horowitz says. "That's the worst thing you can do for these patients."

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology - November, 2006

Morgellons disease: A rapport-enhancing term for delusions of parasitosis

...armed with several small plastic bags filled with "fibers," her magnifying glass in hand. She had been to seven physicians the past four months, three of whom were dermatologists. "Doctor, have you heard of Morgellons disease?" I explained that I had, and to my surprise, she burst into tears. She spent the first few minutes of our conversation sobbing, relieved to have found a physician who had heard of Morgellons disease.

However, because the term "Morgellons disease" does not have the word "delusions" embedded in the term, it is a useful way to communicate with patients regarding their disease. As a case in point, I have established a close relationship with the patient described above by referring to her delusions of parasitosis as Morgellons disease.

• Jenny E. Murase, MD

Dermatology Times - Oct 1, 2006

Patients suffering from psychocutaneous illnesses are more likely to see dermatologists than any other physicians, yet dermatologists are perhaps the physicians least prepared to address these problems, says John Y. M. Koo, M.D., However, he says the term Morgellons "can be very useful for us because it's more neutral" than telling a patient that he or she is delusional.

......says Dr. Koo, who is board-certified in dermatology and psychiatry.

London Times - Aug 12, 2006

Dr. Annette Matthews, a psychiatrist at the Oregon Health & Science University, calls Morgellons a form of delusional parasitosis, a paranoid fear that creatures are living inside you.

CNN (affiliate KSBI) - June 23, 2006

Dr. Noah Scheinfeld, from Columbia University, says morgellon's is not real. He says it's all in the patients head.

Dr. Scheinfeld says, "This is somebody who is picking at themselves and people pick at themselves for all sorts of reasons."

He says once patients create a sore they shove fibers into it.

London Times - May 19, 2006

"This is not a mysterious disease," says Dr. Norman Levine, a Professor of Dermatology at the University of Arizona. "If you polled 10,000 dermatologists, everyone would agree with me." He says he has seen 100 patients suffering from such symptoms, and they responded well to treatment, including a drug called Pimozide, which is used for chronic schizophrenia. According to Dr Levine, they are suffering from a monosymptomatic disorder in which they are absolutely convinced something is in their skin, a delusional parasitosis. He says he has studied the fibres his patients bring in by the bag-load and they are textile in nature.

KHOU Houston, TX - May 5, 2006

"If we look at evidence based medicine; what has been proven based on scientific fact, we don't have a means to substantiate (Morgellons)."

"It's actually not uncommon to have patients come in and describe the sensation that something is crawling on their skin."

• Adelaide Hebert, MD

Popular Mechanics - June, 2005

"Dermatologists are afraid to see these patients," says Dr. Peter Lynch, professor emeritus of dermatology at the University of California, Davis. He says he has examined about 75 people with Morgellons-like symptoms in the past 35 years and believes they suffer from delusional parasitosis--literally, delusions of parasites in the skin. It's a diagnosis people don't like. One patient, threatening malpractice, convinced the state medical board to investigate Lynch. Another warned he had a pistol in the glove compartment of his truck, Lynch says. "He told me, 'I'm going to shoot the next doctor who tells me it's in my head.'"

Contra Costa County Times - March, 2005

In medical school, doctors learn to watch for the "matchbox sign," when people bring in small boxes of dust, lint, scabs or hair to "prove" their parasite infestations. Morgellons sufferers often bring in their fibers. Dr. Dan Eisen, a UC Davis dermatologist who had not heard of Morgellons, said people frequently present things for him to examine. "We'll look at it under the microscope, and we never find anything," he said. "Really, the patients function normally except for the fact that they have this one delusion." Skeptics say the Morgellons fibers are most likely from materials that come in contact with the lesions.

Reno Gazette - May, 2004

Dr. Peter Lynch, professor emeritus in dermatology at the University of California, Davis, said the attempt to identify a physiological reason for delusional parasitosis symptoms is "a convenient way not to have to deal with a psychological problem."

"In many cases, (delusional parasitosis) is a mono-delusional problem," Lynch said. "The patients are normal in every other way. It's always hard to get such patients to believe it's a psychological problem. Some patients are very convincing, and I've had psychiatrists call me about referrals I've made and ask if I'm absolutely sure there's nothing organic going on here."

He said in the 40 years he has been practicing medicine he hasn't seen a delusional parasitosis patient with physical symptoms that can't be explained. He said while it's possible some cases may be wrongly diagnosed, it's unlikely a large segment of patients is suffering from a physical illness. "You can miss a case and of course that happens," Lynch said. "But are many being missed? In a word, no."

"Anecdotal evidence doesn't carry much weight," Lynch said. "There are many anecdotes of alien abductions, but that doesn't mean they are true. And as for the pictures, you can see pictures of the Loch Ness Monster on the Internet, too."

"If there were a peer-reviewed study, with 15 or 20 patients who have the same exact thing in their skins, then maybe I'd believe it," Lynch said.

"When fiberglass curtains first came out, many people with skin conditions were diagnosed with delusions of parasitosis (DOP). But studies showed these patients had tiny (fiberglass particles) in their skin."