The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Announce a Study of Morgellons Disease

In a press release dated January 16, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that they have a launched a study into the skin condition known as Morgellons. The CDC will work in conjunction with Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Division of Research and identify patients in Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Health Plan to enroll in the study.

The History of Morgellons Disease

In 1674, physician Sir Thomas Brown described the black hairs emerging from skin lesions on children as "Morgellons Disease," but the not-for-profit Morgellons Research Foundation doesn't say that there's any connection between the disease Brown identified with what is now referred to as Morgellons.

Mary Leitao, a former medical researcher and founder of the Morgellons Research Foundation, is credited with naming the current affliction with the same name as Sir Thomas Brown's discovery. Leitao's son Drew suffers from Morgellons Disease and after searching the Internet for answers and performing analysis on the fibers coming out of her son's skin, she formed the group to get some answers and hopefully find a cure.

Symptoms of Morgellons Disease

The Morgellons Research Foundation says that the disease affects all age groups, including children, and that multiple family members often are affected at the same time.The Mayo Clinic identifies the following symptoms of Morgellons Disease:

Crawling, biting or stinging sensations in the skin
Skin rashes or sores
White, blue, green, red or black fibers in and on skin lesions.

Some Morgellons sufferers also report fatigue, inability to concentrate, short-term memory loss, joint pain and vision changes. The condition has been shown to impair normal daily activities such as work. Most cases reported in the United States are in California, Texas and Florida, but incidents of the disease have been reported in every state,

Treatment for Morgellons Disease