Morgellons

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Morgellons (also Morgellons disease ) is the name for a clinical picture that is mostly viewed as a variant of the dermatozoal madness .

Symptoms

Sufferers report that colored fibers or hyphae are formed in the skin or subcutaneous tissue; Further symptoms are skin lesions , movement phenomena in the skin, complaints of the musculoskeletal system and the gastrointestinal tract, impaired performance and cognitive and emotional disorders. In the USA (California) a prevalence of 3.65 cases per 100,000 inhabitants was determined, women are affected much more often than men.

Concept formation

The term Morgellons was first mentioned in the 17th century in a work by the English doctor Sir Thomas Browne . Similar clinical pictures are often described in the medical history literature. However, the term has only been widely used in the English-speaking world since 2002, after the mother of an affected child rediscovered the term and promoted it with the establishment of the Morgellons Research Foundation . The rapid spread of the term is attributed to an Internet and media phenomenon (" Internet memes ").

Etiology hypotheses

The etiopathogenesis of the disease is unclear. The advocates of an independent clinical picture often describe the pathophysiology as "unspecific", sometimes also infectious pathogens such as the bacteria Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia , the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans or the parasite Strongyloides stercoralis are suspected. However, none of these pathogens could be detected when examining skin samples from those affected. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with 115 examined cases of the disease could not detect any parasites or mycobacteria .

As part of this study by the CDC, all fibers found in participants in the study were examined. Fibers were found in only about 10% of the participants. These were either on the skin or in scabs or crusts of the skin damaged by scratching, but not in or under the skin. The fibers were mostly cellulose, as is typical for cotton, but polyamide - nylon - was also found, as was a compound that probably comes from nail polish. The researchers conclude that these fibers likely come from clothing, especially since dyes have also been found in some fibers that are used to dye clothing. No fibers were found in tissue samples obtained by biopsy from uninjured skin.

treatment

Treatment successes were achieved , among other things, by medication with antipsychotics such as pimozide , risperidone or aripiprazole .

literature

  • Brian Fair: Morgellons: contested illness, diagnostic compromise and medicalization . In: Sociology of Health & Illness. Vol. 32, No. 4, Wiley 2010, pp. 597-612. doi: 10.1111 / j.1467-9566.2009.01227.x

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert E. Accordino, Danielle Engler, Iona H. Ginsburg, John Koo: Morgellons disease? In: Dermatologic Therapy . 2008 Jan-Feb; 21 (1), pp. 8-12. PMID 18318880 nielsmayer.com (PDF)
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Harth, Barbara Hermes, Roland W. Freudenmann: Morgellons in dermatology. In: Journal of the German Dermatological Society . 2010 Apr; 8 (4), pp. 234-242, PMID 19878403
  3. ↑ a b Michele L. Pearson, Josef V. Selby, Kenneth A. Katz, Virginia Cantrell, Christopher R. Braden et al .: Clinical, Epidemiologic, Histopathologic and Molecular Features of an Unexplained Dermopathy. In: PLoS ONE . 2012, 7 (1), doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0029908 . PMID 22295070 .
  4. ^ CE Kellett: Sir Thomas Browne and the Disease called The Morgellons . In: Annals of Medical History. ns, Vol. 7, 1935, pp. 467-479.
  5. ↑ Andrew Lustig, Sherri Mackay, John Strauss: Morgellons disease as internet meme . ( Memento of the original from May 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Psychosomatics. 2009 Jan-Feb; 50 (1), p. 90. PMID 19213978 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / psy.psychiatryonline.org
  6. ↑ Virginia R. Savely, Mary Leitao, Raphael B. Stricker: The mystery of Morgellons disease: infection or delusion? In: American Journal of Clinical Dermatology . 2006; 7 (1), pp. 1-5. Review. PMID 16489838
  7. ↑ Sara A. Hylwa, Jessica E. Bury, Mark Davis, Mark Pittelkow, J. Michael Bostwick: Delusional Infestation, Including Delusions of Parasitosis: Results of Histologic Examination of Skin Biopsy and Patient-Provided Skin Specimens. In: Archives of Dermatology . 2011 Sep; 147 (9), pp. 1041-1045. PMID 21576554
  8. ↑ ML Pearson, JV Selby, KA Katz, V. Cantrell, CR Braden, ME Parise, CD Paddock, MR Lewin-Smith, VF Kalasinsky, FC Goldstein, AW Hightower, A. Papier, B. Lewis, S. Motipara, ML Eberhard: Clinical, epidemiologic, histopathologic and molecular features of an unexplained dermopathy. In: PloS one. Volume 7, number 1, 2012, p. E29908, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0029908 , PMID 22295070 , PMC 3266263 (free full text).
  9. ^ Carolin Koblenzer: The challenge of Morgellons disease . (PDF; 75 kB) In: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology . Vol. 55, No. 5, 2006, pp. 920-922.