Occasionally I run across a story about the mysterious disease called Morgellon's, and I have to blog about it, since one of my friends is a sufferer from this phenomenon. It has become so widespread that it has been one of the stories being tracked by the alternative media for many years, but of course, the "disease" - if indeed that is what it is (which we'll get back to) - was not even admitted to exist by the lamestream corporate controlled media, nor by quackademia and its sufferers were even vilified as "imagining" things. Well, in my friend's case, I've personally witnessed the pain, seen the lesions, and seen the strange, fibrous material - which turned out to be a kind of plastic on analysis from his physician - which grew from them. My friend, like many Morgellon's sufferers, also informed me that the fibrous material seems particularly sensitive to electromagnetic energy, the fibers acting like hundreds of tiny antennae, and causing a sensation like tiny insects crawling just beneath the skin.

Well, now at least, according to this article shared by Ms. K.M., the existence of the phenomenon has at least been admitted. But there is a major "catch", as we shall see:

Scientific Study Sheds Light on Morgellons as an Infectious Disease

To begin with, the article notes the actual existence of the phenomenon:

Morgellons disease is a poorly understood condition characterized by spontaneously occurring, slowly healing skin lesions containing multicolored filaments and accompanied by symptoms such as fatigue, joint and muscle pain and neurological problems, according to a recent report published in the ‘International Journal of General Medicine.’ The review paper titled ” Morgellons Disease: A Filamentous Borrelial Dermatitis“ was written by Calgary microbiologist Marianne Middelveen and San Francisco internist, Dr.Raphael Stricker of the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society (ILADS). The skin condition is often linked to Lyme disease, a tickborne illness that has reached epidemic proportions throughout the USA.

But now comes the twist, for this new study links the fibrous material to Lyme disease, the tick-born disease that afflicts many people after tick bites:

Previous research funded by the CEHMDF has shed light on the mysterious illness. Rather than textiles, worms or parasites, the characteristic colorful filaments found in Morgellons skin lesions are composed of collagen and keratin produced by skin cells. The filaments can display some hair-like features and the blue coloration is caused by melanin pigmentation. The red coloration remains a mystery at present. “There are no known blue textile fibers colored by melanin,” explains Middelveen “thus Morgellons fibers are of biological origin”. A number of peer reviewed published studies have shown that Morgellons skin lesions are associated with Lyme disease. The causative agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, and other closely related bacteria have been detected in Morgellons skin lesions. “This finding has been reproduced at four independent laboratories,” says Dr. Éva Sapi of the University of New Haven. “Thus the association between infection and Morgellons disease is reproducible if the correct detection methods are used.”

Now I do not, for a moment, dismiss the findings of this paper. Indeed, if some of the skin lesions contain the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium, that would seem to indicate some sort of connection.

But here's my problem: in my friend's case, he lives in a heavily urban area not widely known for the presence of wood ticks. He, and his physician, are convinced that the fibers they have seen (which also on analysis contained plastics and even metal-like substances) were not caused by any such delivery vector, but rather, by the constant chemical spraying which takes place in his part of the country. As he has told me that his symptoms increase when this activity increases. One can imagine other potential vectors for the delivery of the infection: medicines, food supply, vaccines, and so on. And he is not alone in the Morgellon's community in his hypothesis about the spraying or the very strange nature of the fibers found in Morgellon's lesions.

So where's the high octane speculation here?

Firstly, I suspect, though certainly cannot prove, that we might be looking at some sort of "limited hangout position." This is certainly not to impugn the hard work of these scientists. Quite the reverse. They've provided the first public acknowledgement of the existence of the phenomenon, and that is a major step forward for Morgellon's sufferers, for as the article itself indicates, many were simply dismissive of the whole thing as being some sort of "mental illness", which in my friend's case - an engaging and intelligent man hardly given to mental fantasies - simply is not true. These scientists, by studying a disease many of their colleagues would deny even existed, exhibited some major moral courage.

But nonetheless, we might be looking at a limited hangout, for the possibility arises that we might be looking at a kind of weaponized version of the bacterium causing Lyme's disease, perhaps a genetically engineered one working in concert with other technologies, delivered through spraying and other vectors.

In short, the discussion of Morgellon's has come a long way with this scientific research, but I strongly suspect that it has a long way to go.

See you on the flip side...