The Worst Things For Sale: Morgellons Spray Treatment

[semillama]

I love this blog, but this entry rules them all:

http://theworstthingsforsale.com/post/21320999096/morgellons-is-a-medical-condition-where-people-are

"Morgellons is a medical condition where people are convinced that threads or fibers are emerging from their skin. The real origin of threads on the skin, as you might imagine, are from clothing, but the sufferers believe they are infected with an invisible parasite. They scratch their skin, convinced they’re infected, which causes irritation and open lesions, which they assume is from the same parasite.

The CDC has officially classified Morgellons as delusional parasitosis. It’s despicable, then, that companies are selling products which claim to treat Morgellons. The real treatment for this condition is therapy and medication, but, of course, there is an imaginary and costly “alternative” treatment to this malady. For only $89.95, you get bottles and tubs of inert chemicals to spray and spread on yourself.

It would be nice if we could set up an alternative jail system to treat practitioners of alternative medicine. It would be like real jail, except it would cost them a lot more, and it wouldn’t work."

[laconicsax]

1. Damn...why didn't I think of that?

[Odin2005]

8. Because most people are too ethical to rip off mentally ill people.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

9. But, but, but...

Atheists and skeptics and "free thinkers" don't have any ethics! Cuz we don't have jebus in our hearts!

[MineralMan]

2. What a deal! Selling something to cure a disease that

doesn't really exist. It could be nothing but expired hair pomade or something. Does no harm; does no good. What a deal!

Please, no Morgellon's stories. Please.

[DragonTat2]

3. The disease being called Morgellons is not delusional.

http://www.healthsciences.okstate.edu/morgellons/index.cfm

I have it. I know it is not delusional.

[uppityperson]

4. that is interesting, thank you.

It looks like it can be psych but may not be. I wonder if it is like chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, etc, over used in many cases, appropriate in some, etc.

Sounds like a pain.

[Paulie]

5. Here's some more reading

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2012/01/still_more_evidence_that_morgellons_dise_1.php

[uppityperson]

6. I went to CDC and read what was there also. And Mayo, 1 of my favorite med sites.

My take is it is a broadly applied diagnosis that covers a lot of different things. Provable skin issues to psych issues. Like schizophrenia used to be broadly used for every psych condition that didn't fit a few things, but now has been more clearly defined and those other "misc" psych things now have their own diagnoses also.

And like fm, cf, used inappropriately in many cases. Not provable, used too broadly = wtf sort of thing.

[jberryhill]

10. "I have it. I know it is not delusional"

How often would you guesstimate that persons suffering from a delusion are able to tell whether or not they are suffering from a delusion?

[HuckleB]

12. Not so fast.

Morgellons – Creating a New Disease
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/morgellons-creating-a-new-disease/

Delusional Parasitosis
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/delusional-parasitosis/

[laconicsax]

13. Ah, but those authors don't *have* Morgellons.

They can't know it's a delusion unless they have the it...or something like that.

[Odin2005]

14. Schizophrenics think the voices in thead head are real, too.

[Odin2005]

7. Taking advantage of the mentally ill is nothing new.

[Marrah_G]

11. That sounds like a horrible condition

I can't imagine having delusions like THAT all day and night.