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The words of the German Philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) sadly apply very well to the state of Morgellons Disease.
"Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized.
In the first, it is ridiculed,
in the second, it is opposed,
and in the third, it is accepted as self-evident".
Suffering Morgellons patients are often ridiculed, their reported symptoms marginalized, by government agencies, healthcare professionals, and insurance companies. Regardless, the incidence of Morgellons among children and adults appears to be increasing throughout the world. Occurence in animals has also been reported.
Morgellons disease is poorly understood. It has been difficult to obtain the research money needed to carry out large studies to find the cause(s) and treatments. The symptoms vary widely. The most common are itching and a sensation that something is biting or crawling on the skin.
Filaments or fibers of different colors protrude outward from under the skin causing skin lesions. The disease is often severely disabling and disfiguring, even fatal. Patients complain of a variety of physical ailments including joint and other pain that is incapacitating. The disease may progress to serious neurological symptoms such as crushing fatique, "brain fog", memory loss, and mood changes.
In 2001, Mary Leitao's two-year old son developed lip sores, complained of "bugs" crawling on his skin, and exhibited fibers protruding from his skin. Both Mary and her husband are healthcare professionals. Their attempts to find medical help for their child led them through a labyrinth of specialists, some of whom diagnosed Mary as having a mental problem, Munshausen Syndrome by Proxy. Mary persisted in spite of the ridicule by founding the Morgellons Research Foundation (MRF) in 2002 to raise awareness about the disease within the medical community. But much to her surprise, thousands of other desperately ill self-diagnosed Mogellons patients began contacting MRF for help.
In the years since, many more patients, nurses, and other care providers worldwide have come forward to describe their disease or that of their patients. In 2006, the group successfully lobbied Congress and The Center for Disease Control (CDC) for a study of Morgellons Disease. The CDC also enlisted the U.S. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the American Academy of Dermatology to conduct research.
Six long years later, in January, 2012, the CDC issued its final report which was a bitter disappointment for Morgellons patients and supporting healthcare professionals. Click here for the full report.
The CDC reported that no disease organisms were present in the 100 Morgellons patients studied, that the fibers found on the skin were normal clothing fibers, and suggested that patients' sensations were manifestations of "delusional infestation". Patients are often now diagnosed with "delusional parasitosis".
The impact of the CDC report is twofold. It severely curtails funding efforts for further research, because the disease does not exist as a recognized medical ailment. Secondly, the results delivered a devastating economic blow to patients who were hoping that a positive report would pave the way for insurance coverage for their expensive out-of-pocket medical treatments.
I have no basis on which to judge the validity of the CDC study myself. Having read some patient reports with photographs online and those of medical experts who disagree with the CDC, however, it is hard to believe that the apparent pain, disfigurement, and lesions with fibers sticking out from under the skin are the result of a mental condition! It is also hard to imagine how babies or pets or domestic animals could self-inflict such medical conditions.
Understandably, many patients consider the report a "white wash", that there is some larger agenda at work. Common causal linkages include biowarfare, chemtrail spraying, and/or the widespread use of genetically modified organisms (GMO). Government agencies do not acknowledge that chemtrail spraying is occurring, claiming that all of the "trails" we see in our skies around the globe are water vapor from airplane contrails, in spite of much atmospheric data and whistle blower testimony to the contrary.
A number of years ago, Jill Smith, a Morgellans sufferer, began documenting possible causes for the disease on her web site. It is not hard to extrapolate that if Morgellans is the result of any "black project" run by the government or affiliated corporation, a positive CDC report could have paved the way for research unwanted in some quarters.
The Morgellons Research Foundation has closed its doors, but the The Charles E. Holman Foundation, organizing the conference above, is another grassroots organization supporting research, education, diagnosis, and treatment of Morgellons Disease for the past 6 years. Another organization with similar goals including research is the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Center for the Investigation of Morgellons Disease. Both non-profit groups continue to provide support for Morgellons patients until the time when the "disease will be accepted as self-evident.
"If the world is a dangerous place to live,
it is not because of the people who are evil,
but because of the good people who don't do anything about it"
- Albert Einstein
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