Morgellons Hope Quackery

Smileykins says:

http://digitalnaturopath.com/cond/C704073.html#H5

Check it out. It’s something relatively new, added onto the site of “The Analyst”.

Smileykins says:

DANG. The American Society of Clinical Oncology???!!!

http://www.asco.org/portal/site/ASCO/menuitem.a3fb42726842a82627c4c291ee37a01d/?vgnextoid=d70b3608f9958010VgnVCM100000f2730ad1RCRD&index=n&pmid=16489838

al says:

Oger P; Farrand SK
Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

Conjugal transfer of Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmids is controlled by a hierarchical system in which opines, substrates produced by crown gall tumours, induce a quorum-sensing system. The cascade results from the control of expression of traR, the quorum-sensing activator, by a regulator responsive to the opine. In the two cases studied to date, the gene arrangements responsible for the cascade differ remarkably, suggesting that considerable diversity exists among the many Ti-like plasmids in the agrobacteria. In this study, we demonstrated that the novel Ti plasmid pTiChry5 is induced to transfer at high frequency by extracts from tumours initiated by strain Chry5. The purified inducer had the chemical and biological properties of agrocinopines C and D, a set of sugar phosphodiester opines known to induce transfer of another Ti plasmid, pTiBo542. The T-region of pTiChry5 contained a gene whose product, called Acs(Chry5), is virtually identical to the agrocinopine C+D synthase from the T-region of pTiBo542. The two genes are less closely related to acs of pTiC58, which is responsible for the production of agrocinopines A+B, a similar but not identical set of phosphodiester opines by tumours induced by strain C58. Agrocinopines A+B induce transfer of pTiC58 but did not induce transfer of pTi(Chry5). A single copy of traR was identified at the 11 o’clock region of pTi(Chry5), where it is part of a two-gene operon called arc(Chry5). Although altered by deletions, arc(Chry5) is related to the five-gene arc operon that controls the expression of traR on pTiC58. Expression of traR(Chry5) was induced by agrocinopines C+D and the opines isolated from Chry5 tumours but not by agrocinopines A+B. A mutation in traR(Chry5) abolished transfer, and transfer was restored by complementation in trans. We conclude that the agrocinopine opines and the corresponding opine-meditated conjugal regulatory regions of pTiChry5 and pTiC58 share a common origin, but that the opine signals for the two Ti plasmids have evolved divergently through changes in the opine synthase enzymes. The alterations in the opines, in turn, necessitated a co-evolutionary change in the opine recognition systems responsible for controlling expression of the traR genes on these two types of Ti plasmids.

Smileykins says:

Reckon?

al says:

Conjugal transfer of Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmids is controlled by a hierarchical system in which opines, substrates produced by crown gall tumours, induce a quorum-sensing system. The cascade results from the control of expression of traR, the quorum-sensing activator, by a regulator responsive to the opine. In the two cases studied to date, the gene arrangements responsible for the cascade differ remarkably, suggesting that considerable diversity exists among the many Ti-like plasmids in the agrobacteria

Keywords:
Heirachical, substrates, quorum sensing, traR, Ti like Plasmids.
Key concept: cw morgellons
Further Study, ACE (alternative cellular Energy) pigments.

Syncronicity, like when I write about the spread of morgellons under the skin, talk about killing the hive, follow a lead about agrobacterium, find the above, Bingo.
Quorum sensing, plasmids, gee, now I’m gonna do some real study.
Maybe you are right Smilykins, maybe I do think too much, but I assure you, my mental gymnastics will continue.

Heirachical, quorum sensing, Plasmids…

Break it down

build it up

respect (for human dignity}

al says:

Thank you Michael for allowing me to post on your enriching, Illuminating little site.
Most rewarding.
Making good people better.

Smileykins says:

“Making good people better”, Al? You know that in God’s eyes, all people are good, and that we’re all in possession of a free will. Through no fault of any patient believing themselves to have it, all that I can get out of “morgellons disease” is that it’s definitely not distinct disease, but, rather, a horrifically distinct misunderstanding that breeds more misunderstandings for those who can’t see things for what they are.

http://www.pathguy.com/lectures/imm-i.htm

IMMUNE INJURY

This is difficult to say, but, Al, I’ll tell ya what…right there, since so many “morgellons disease” patients/victims read a lot and think too hard, see if you can take anything into consideration from that link. Come on, and delve into that with your open mind. I consider such information to be highly relevant to anyone who is compelled to “think outside of the box” for answers to some of their problems. Is it too boring? Oh, yes, I’m quite sure that it is, but an improved state of health will never be attained through beliefs in conspiracy theories, quackery, and science fiction. Those types of things seem to be all that morgies are attracted to for seeking answers to their dilemmas.

There really isn’t an entire group of strangers, from all walks of life, around the globe, with a new disease in common. Morgies won’t believe their doctors, and many seem just as pleased as punch to abandon all their prior diagnosed conditions, swapping them all for “morgellons disease”. Things are not, and they never will be, that simple.

So sadly, it appears that nobody who thinks they have “morgellons disease” can strike out on their own to learn anything about their health. It seems that all morgies are very hurt, and very angry, declaring that the qualified doctors they’ve seen have refused to listen to them, and that they’ve been misdiagnosed, concerning that which they’ve grown to believe to be “morgellons disease”. Like everything else surrounding this issue, it seems that there was an incorrectness there, already, to begin with. So much more incorrect stuff is deeply programmed into such persons’ minds as this, and it’s so steadily fueled by this terrible “morgellons disease movement”.

I don’t claim to be anything I’m not, but I have plenty of time and I-have-been-listening, with an acute interest, on line (the place where this all began, after all). I came into this with an open mind, although not completely without prejudice, over two years ago. To me, it very much appears to be pretty clear that most of these patients are part of a growing problem that truly is seeming to spiral out of control.

Is the spread of “morgellons disease” what I’m referring to as spiralling out of control? No, but it used to seem that there were some boundaries among morgies, in that they often used to try and keep each other from making their group (they’d thought), appear as looking as though they were (what they considered to be), too far out there…mostly, they’d say, in case interested doctors were reading their message boards. “Interested doctors” sure were, as has been shown through so many charlatans capitalizing on things they’ve gleaned directly from the patients’ comments to trick them into profit for themselves.

Remember, I was led to learn about “morgellons disease” by my daughter, three years after going though a very ill period for a couple of months, five years ago. Just like she’d said, yes, indeedy, it appeared as though there was a new disease that a lot of people had, that was exactly like what I’d recovered from.

I’m real sorry for saying this, but it’s since progressed into a lot of these patients (many “newbies”, even), looking as though they try to out-do each other, if you know what I mean. By saying that, I honestly don’t mean anything offensive, but, outside-of-the-box-thinking, clearly, means something very different to such people. Surely, not all of you are too blind to see the deception in what the founding mother of “morgellons disease”, the crooked doctors, and the nurse, who got this thing going say about the “disease making you that way”. Some of ya need a good hard knot jerked in your tails to see what group you’re a part of. It’s not the disease of morgellons being more virulent, or more progressive, in some people more than others.

Al, I think the biggest lie, bigger than “the lie of morgellons disease”, is the one lie that everyone’s telling themselves. If some morgies aren’t “what they’re always saying they’re accused of being”, why so many accusations against mainstream medicine, and why are such patients not taking the information they’re possesssion of, concerning what they declare as being a malfunction in their immune system, into consideration for themselves?

If you have no choice but to over-think something, Al, at least why not try to over-think something that you might stand a chance of understanding, that really might lead you onto the pathway of true discovery? If you’re open to exploring what’s on the page in that link I provided on immune injury, scroll down about an inch from the top of the page, and start reading after the words, “Learning Objectives”. I know that you can drink it in if your mind is really open.

al says:

please dont use the term “morgies”
do you refer to amputees as “stumpies”
or cancer victims “cancies”
you bring dishonour to yourself.
Im out of here for a while
/keep the truth shining Michael/
tosser!

al says:

http://www.mindfully.org/GE/Infectious-Disease-Ecology.htm

Spam, I guess.
Why would one google ” e coli agrobacterium genetic splice”?
Must think too much.
Read with understanding people, because, despit ole Michael protests, lay people can understand complex issues.
eukaryotic, what a lovely sounding word, sounds like nuclear karaoke, ona meta genetic level.
Catch up, Michael you old fool.
If you have the audacity to foster such an offensive blog, be prepared for a VIGOROUS STRINGENT REBUTTAL.
My next platform will be to establish guilt.
But first to the science, Catch up Michael, I intend to have a comprehensive working knowledge of the relevant disciplines required to stop this in its tracks.
I suggest you do the same…
……peasant.
peasant

al says:

http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/s4147.pdf

CHAIR—Where does that gene come from?

Dr Higgins—In this particular case the one that we have used in peas came from bacteria—
E.coli bacteria. It encodes resistance to an antibiotic called kanamycin. There are a number of
other genes that have been used in this way as well but this describes the concept where one
needs to have a gene that codes for a characteristic that allows you to select out cells that have
taken up the new DNA. So all the cells that have not taken up the new DNA are killed by the
antibiotic. Any cell that has taken it up lives and divides and goes on to produce a new plant.
These two genes are linked physically and put into another bacterium called agrobacterium.
This is what we use. There are a number of different ways in which you can deliver genes into
plants. One of them shown here—the one that I have used—is agrobacterium. It is a soil
microbe that normally delivers some of its own DNA into plant cells. We have replaced that
DNA with our DNA so the agrobacterium cannot tell the difference between its own DNA that it
would normally transfer into plant cells and the DNA that we have introduced. It carries the
DNA into the plants and all of the chromosomes of that plant and carries that DNA on into
subsequent generations.

More Spam I guess.
I wonder if God is an Aussie?

I’m joking, but I wonder what the “light in the southern hemisphere”
is all about?

Gillian says:

Michael – Could I ask for your point of view please on the above links Al provided.

If you join the dots can you not see how Al and myself have this condition called Morgellons?

Al – I’m just trying to break down your last post so I can get my head around it. So what Dr Higgins is saying then is – if I eat frozen peas I’m sure to start sprouting another head, or arm, or I may even start spitting fluff and fibres, oh lord forbid!

The light in the southern hemisphere?? – it’s the aliens Al – they’re coming… do ya still have that milk cart?

Gillian says:

The Neurobiology of Mass Delusion
JASON BRADFORD / Energy Bulletin 11jan05
source: http://www.energybulletin.net/newswire.php?id=3948 12jan05

History is replete with examples of social organizations, whether a business or a nation, that failed to perceive the realities of a changing environment and didn’t adapt in time to prevent calamity. Hubris and a self-reinforced dynamic of mass delusion characterize the waning phases of these once powerful groups. In hindsight we ask, “What were they thinking? Wasn’t the situation obvious to everyone? The evidence is so clear!” Here’s the question we should ask next: “Is history now repeating itself?”

Anyone familiar with the concepts of overshoot, resource depletion, global climate change, mass extinction, and related ills, wonders why the media, church groups and political leaders do not vigorously discuss these topics. By contrast, those unfamiliar with these issues assume that because they are not covered closely, the problems must not be too worrisome. My view is that science and history are correct, and that we are headed for a major planetary disaster as far as humans are concerned. I’ve tried to understand why the human brain, on a collective level at least, is apparently incapable of dealing with obvious problems. Here’s what I’ve learned.

For a clue to how the mind works, imagine getting startled in your own home. A shadowy figure lurking in a doorway elicits a powerful jolt to your system. It is only your spouse, of course, but it takes about half a second to realize that. This reveals what neurobiologists can now see with modern imaging techniques: visual signals get processed in more than one brain region, and the signal first arrives at the primitive hindbrain where it can respond before we are conscious of the threat. Playing runner up is the neocortex, our lumbering master of rational thought. A false alarm is inconvenient, yes, but a necessary burden. Without that startle response, a lion may have eaten us.

Emotions motivate and guide us. Fear of the lion prepares the body for fight or flight. Love binds individuals into cohesive units greater than the sum of their parts. When we succeed or fail at a task, or are praised or scorned for a particular behavior, emotional reactions are our rewards (feels good) or punishments (feels bad) and become the guideposts for our future thoughts and actions. The neocortex works with our emotions to solidify our plans. We dream about a goal and anticipate the emotional rewards of realizing it. Our self-esteem can be wrapped up in these goals and plans. They become our “mental models,” setting what is important in life and largely defining who we think we are. This is how we become determined to “stick with the program.” Mental models may range from the very short term and mundane, such as a plan to jog 12 laps, to lifetime goals and worldviews, such as a career path and religious beliefs.

Another clue about how the mind works comes from a famous experiment on the nature of the brain duality. Two films were made; both included a basketball team passing a ball among them. In one film a woman with an umbrella walks through the scene, in the other film it’s a gorilla. People were randomly shown one of the films and randomly told either to count the number of ball passes made or just watch. Now consider the mindset of the counters. They have a goal, they bind this goal to an emotional reward, and they anticipate getting the “right answer” and “feeling good.” All of those told to just watch and report anything interesting about the film recall either the woman with an umbrella or the gorilla. Over a third of those counting missed the woman and over a half missed the gorilla.

When mental models are tied to rewards, we fear and rebel against their disruption, aiming to avoid disappointment or disillusionment. Because it receives and processes sensory input faster, our emotional mind can censor from conscious awareness information that may interfere with the task required to make the goal. If a gorilla isn’t involved in actually passing the ball, then don’t pay attention to the gorilla. Depending upon circumstances, this focus can be advantageous or dangerous. If a mathematician is working on the proof of a theorem in the safety of his office that is fine, but doing so on a busy street can be deadly.

A changing environment, such as a busy street, requires us to be open to new sensory inputs and to be willing to modify or even dismiss outmoded mental models. Rigidity of mental models in the face of countervailing information is called denial. Given what we now know about the structure and function of different brain regions, we can understand the physiological roots of denial. The data nullifying a cherished mental model are systematically filtered out before the conscious brain is even aware of them. The expression, “Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil,” exemplifies this censoring process.

The conscious brain is not a simple dupe however. It can actively participate in the act of denial. This is termed “rationalization,” and involves complex neocortical functions. People can erect fancier houses of cards and hold on to their cherished beliefs even in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence. Many will admit that is what they are doing by resorting to the expression, “Well, I just have faith,” even when the subject is not overtly religious. This point in a discussion signals that the mental model being challenged is very important for the person, and to remove it would cause a serious and painful identity crisis. Who wants that kind of grief?

You can witness this brain duality in operation while watching debates between some of the dominant personalities of our culture, mainly those representing large financial and business interests, and the concerned watchers and interpreters of physical reality, mainly scientists in the realms of ecology, geology and climatology. Because the scientists are challenging fundamental assumptions of our culture, such as the basis for “progress” and the consequences of “economic growth,” many cannot agree with the scientists without losing their identity. This threat to the mental model is simply too great to accept. Hence you encounter two modes of response from those accepting of the prevailing paradigm: (1) the scientific data are not reliable, and (2) faith in technological progress and/or human ingenuity.

So when wondering why so many people just “don’t get it,” (oil depletion, overshoot etc.) whether they are your local politician or great aunt, realize there is a physiological mechanism that may preclude having a rational discussion on certain topics. The truth can only be pushed so far before rebellion occurs, hence the phrase, “To kill the messenger.” Before many folks can learn and incorporate the lessons of ecology, most could use the services of a good shrink. Someone to call them on their bull and get them to face their faulty, contradictory, and destructive thought patterns.

I fear that the world has neither enough shrinks nor enough time to wait for the long process of psychotherapy to work. Furthermore, enshrined institutions embody dangerous mental models within their various charters, goals and mission statements. If anyone happens to have a crisis of confidence, these institutions work to re-assimilate the disenchanted, quietly dismiss them, or destroy their reputations. Of course these are the worst possible responses. As Jared Diamond explains in his book “Collapse,” history is replete with societies that failed to question their own assumptions and create new paradigms. Instead of making life possible in a changed environment, they are part of archeology’s trash heap.

Those who know about “Peak Oil,” monetary debts, climate change, militarism, overpopulation, corporatism, soil loss, aquifer depletion, persistent organic pollutants, deforestation, etc., realize we are at a major historical juncture now. Since we know it is past time to change our culture, the question we have is whether most people will bother to listen and create the necessary transition in a rational, non-violent manner.

For those who find the terms in the previous paragraph somewhat mysterious, try this. Research the “laws of thermodynamics” and compare them to the cultural imperative for “economic growth.” See if you can recognize and then resolve the tension between the two in your mind. If you can’t resolve the tension, decide which one of these has to go. Look back at the terms in the previous paragraph and ask how they relate to what you’ve just learned. Caution: afterwards you may need a good shrink.

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2005/Mass-Delusion-Neurobiology11jan05.htm

Just a couple more dots for ya Michael, so what do ya think?
I’m probably just wasting my time with the debunkers, but the above article does hold a lot of weight with regards to the Morgellons issue does it not??

Gillian says:

yep…nite Al

al says:

Horizontal gene transfer is not limited to the externalenvironment. It has been demonstrated between gut bacte-
ria in mice and chickens (137, 138) and in the gut (139,
140) as well as urogenital and respiratory tract of human
beings (141).Stephenson and Warnes (142) wrote,‘The threat of horizontal gene transfer from recombinant
organisms to indigenous ones is…very real and mecha-
nisms exist whereby, at least theoretically, any genetically
engineered trait can be transferred to any prokaryotic
organism and many eukaryotic ones’ (p. 5).A year later, another molecular geneticist, who works on
transgenic plants, admitted that, ‘…the potential for hori-
zontal (gene) transfer may be greater than thought previ-
ously’ (143).11. BIOLOGICAL CONTAINMENT MAY BE
INEFFECTIVEWhen Paul Berg and others (144) published their letter on
‘Potential biohazards of recombinant DNA molecules’ in
Science, the main areas of concern were the possibilities of
survival and spread of genetically engineered microorgan-
isms (GEMs) and the dissemination of the new recombi-
nant gene sequences to bacterial hosts throughout the
different bacterial communities via horizontal gene transfer.

From above, eukaryotically speaking of course.

Smileykins says:

Hey now, Al, I just skimmed back up and saw that you said:

Keeping up morghaters?

Is “morghaters” a word for patients who think they’re plagued with “morgellons disease”?

Gillian says:

Al – I was hoping to have a read of that link you posted in post #26, but unfortunately it just takes me to a McAfee site advisor and this message…..

Why were you redirected to this page? We believe this site may be trying to trick you into entering your financial or personal information. This is a serious security threat which could lead to identity theft, financial losses or other dissemination of personal information.

What the???

Why would ecoli, agrobacterium, and genetic splicing be a serious security threat to me?? – doesn’t matter, coz I’m delusional away, HA!

al says:

http://www.biotech-info.net/infectious_diseases.pdf

sarahbionedunn says:

Dear Gillian,

Agrobacterium is a bacterium, a single-celled organism.
E coli is a bacteria as well. Everyone has them.

Science and math ARE my things, and I still had to look that up to double-check, so don’t despair.

SBD

al says:

Shucks Michael, gee thanks.
But I think I have this one pinned.
Its a critical mass type of thing…
Umm are we ready for the opening
Gambit from the prosecution?
Let the scientists debate horizontar gene transfer crossing biological kingdoms…
A wee while.
But it puts a new perspective on
Cauliflower ears!!! Noddy….
Ahem….

al says:

Btw symptomatic relief would be fine, but needs dictate systemic recovery would be far better.
I’m opening up a new field of interest in agrobacterium…
what are those little suckers, anyway?

Gillian says:

Pollen transformation
http://www.bios.net/daisy/AgroTran/767/g3/g3/868.html

The invention is a method for the genetic transformation of any plant by using pollen as starting material for transformation with Agrobacterium. A culture medium useful for pollen germination and pollen tube growth in presence of Agrobacterium is also claimed.

Gillian says:

DNA TRANSFER VIA AGROBACTERIUM TUMEFACIENS
http://classes.hortla.wsu.edu/hort425/1999/group/transgenic/agro.html

******************************

http://arabidopsis.info/students/agrobacterium/index.html
Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a ubiquitous soil borne pathogen responsible for Crown Gall disease, affecting many higher species of plant. The pathogen is a problem for agriculture all over the world. DNA transfer from Agrobacterium tumefaciens to eukaryotic cells is the only known example of interkingdom DNA transfer (Dumaset al., (2001). It is therefore unsuprising that Agrobacterium has evolved its own unique and specialised system to accomplish this task, which is of great interest to plant scientists. The information contained in this website will explore the history and all that we know about this remarkable micro-organism

*******************************

Types of Tissues to be transformed
http://www.bios.net/daisy/AgroTran/767/g3/856.html

Michael says:

I would appreciate it if people would put links to articles, rather than cutting and pasting large chunks of those articles.

I would MOST appreciate it if you could state the relevance of your posts, specifically what does it have to do with Morgellons?

Gillian, nobody on the internet is trying to keep information from you. If you or your child are sick, then you should see a doctor. I’m sorry, but that’s really what’s best.

Al, you too. But I suspect you’ve rejected that route a little too conclusively. Good luck.

If y’all want to keep posting random science articles, then I’ll just turn off the comments, and you can go do it somewhere else. If you actually want to use your own words, and discuss things, then that would be good.

Gillian says:

Michael – please don’t patronize me, I’m not a child. I never said my child was sick. Unfortunately he was born premature, but he is doing ok so far. Aside of that, what concerns me more than anything at this point in my life is our future.

I do apologise for my cutting & pasting of large documents, but at the time I felt it was important to highlight relevant paragraphs from links pertaining to our discussion on agrobacterium, horizontal gene transfer,genetic engineering and morgellons. The relevance of all of this I feel is that I have come to the end of the road. I don’t need a doctor, a doctor can not help me. This condition is beyond anything medicine has ever known, it is new.

Our modern world has brought about the old disease – the morgellons (written by Sir Thomas Browne). An old bacteria that has lay in a state of dormancy from generation to generation, but not anymore. All things in this world coming together in the past 100 hundreds is hitting us head on, and we as the human race are not going to win, mother nature has spoken.

No one sole person is to blame for this, but the longer we let things go, the worse it will get. Some one WILL want to blame someone and disaster will hit. Paranoia will become your new friend, you will fear your own shadown, you will know nothing more than the four walls that surround you and wonder what life is like on the outside. This is not the way life is meant to be.

50 Harmful Effects of Genetically Modified Food
http://www.cqs.com/50harm.htm

The central problem underlying all of this technology is not just its short-term benefits and long-term drawbacks, but the overall attempt to “control” living nature based on an erroneous mechanistic view.

” Bioengineering” thus offers a contradiction in terms. “Bio” refers to life, what is not mechanistically predictable or controllable – and “engineering” refers to making the blueprints for machines that are predictable – but not alive. They are dead. Thus there is the joining of what is living with what applies to the opposite.

What is patentable also needs to be mentally “distinctive” – fixed or mostly unchanging in our minds to obtain an ownership or right-to-control patent. Again, something unchanging is not constantly adapting to its surrounding environment. It is less alive, and strategies to maintain that are often deadly. For example, much of GM technology is directed at eliminating surrounding biological environment – competing animals and plants, soaking them with lethal toxins. Secondly, there are terminator plants that do not reproduce a second generation – preventing a subsequent generation from escaping the controlling patented mold. In contrast to nature’s rainforests teeming with life, GM technology has planted forests of flowerless, fruitless “terminator trees.” They are not habitats for life, but exude poisons from every leaf, killing all but a few insects. Thirdly, GM companies have gone on multi-billion dollar buying sprees, purchasing seed companies and destroying their non-patented (potentially competitive) seed stocks. Time magazine called the widespread consequences of this effort a global Death of Birth. All of this is why “biotechnology,” in its naked essence, has be tagged by some as thano- ( meaning death) technology.

Christian says:

Has anyone else seen the trailers for the film bug and been reminded of all the people who think they have morgellons??

Christian says:

Now before anyone starts calling me any rude names or saying I’m a jerk for bringing it up because “the movie is almost poking fun at those with morgellons” you should know that it’s based on a play about paranoia and DOP from around 1996. If anything this film will hopefully be a wake up call for people with DOP who are in denial and would rather live in fear picking at themselves than accept that maybe the problem is in their head and will go away if they try and get treated with that in mind.

Gillian says:

Al, have you see this??

Morgellons Defined
http://digitalseance.wordpress.com/2007/04/25/morgellons-nanotechnology-dangers-1/

Sarahbionedunn says:

Actually, I was given a copy of the play “Bug” to read about a year ago. If the movie is like the play, we’ll see a dynamic of folie-a-deux (but, of course, how can two people share the same delusion?).

Sarahbionedunn says:

Christian,

You were clear. I had heard, though, that the movie is based on the play.

Dr. Beverly Drottar says:

I find myself appreciating the long quotes on gene transfers & quorom sensing that Al & Gillian posted–It’s a pain to have to hop all over the web reading 6 paragraphs in 10 different locations.

For convenience & expediency, I have found that it is relatively respectful to use the term “Morgellonites” for those of us who share common problems & symptoms, and then I use the slang term “Morgies” for the as yet not fully elucidated, causitive factors and disease vectors of these illnesses. Seems to work, without being too heavy of a label or too disrespectful, I feel. At least I don’t object to being called a Morgellonite… It helps explain what is happening and why things are going the way they are with me right now.

-Dr. Beverly

Sarahbionedunn says:

Christian,

You said “when I thought I had morgellons.” Have you discussed your experience with Morgellons and your recovery somewhere that I could read it?

Michael says:

Beverly, I include you with the quackery this article is discussing. You sell “Divine Skin Protection” cream, which you claim will “fight and kill Morgellons parasites by skin application”. You are not a practicing doctor, nor have you been for twenty years, yet you still use the “Dr” and “MD” to sell your product.

Gillian says:

Science and math ARE my things, and I still had to look that up to double-check, so don’t despair.

Sarah, I just wanted to say thanks, for being nice to me. I mean that, I was feeling despair and have been for a few weeks. A great deal has happened in my life, a heck of a lot of stress, most of it out of my control, you know family issues and stuff.

I did re read that sentence a few times when I felt a bit wobbly. I guess that’s what ya get when you play with the debunkers.

Smileykins says:

By the way, Beverly. You’d posted one time on Lymebusters’ message board, around February-March of 2005, telling people that they didn’t have “morgellons disease”. You’d explained that your doctor had treated you for the same type of illness, and that these patients are obsessing over normal skin processes involving the entrapment of environmental debris in their epidermal layer. Why did you completely change your mind, and go public about it, last year?

Smileykins says:

You know, I have the opinion that “morgellons disease” includes quite a good deal of patients who have a lot more delusions than just that of parasitosis. This is an interesting article on Litigious Delusions, in which the patient pursued litigation as well as writing letters to various state and federal authorities.

http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/…

Gillian says:

Michael – when do you plan to pull the finger on this side show?

Don’t ya think (obviously not) that the game should finish?!!!!!!!! or is it genome?

thank you ur honour!

Gillian says:

Michael – I know this is not a game, I’m sorry.

I remember how I contracted Morgellons.

My baby needs his mum, but I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be here, that is how ill I feel. The trial of lies seems to have been fed to my family also.

I would call this condition – intent to murder

Smileykins says:

Thank you, Al, but I’m not used to anyone else making excuses for my being rude. I can’t help it when I hear about something and expect an open willingness on the part of the person saying it to want to facilitate understanding through an honest exchange of communication. Patients who think we all need to be warned of a new disease they have, which they believe we’re all at risk of catching, mostly shun those of us who have an interest in this matter. That’s not hardly fair, to call our attention to it, and keep trying to sidetrack us or demand that we shut up and leave it alone.

It’s been made everyone’s business, and I think this link is relevant for some patients who don’t know what’s happened to them, even if they’ll never be able to understand:

Mental Disorders Secondary to General Medical Conditions

Failure to identify these underlying causal medical conditions can be potentially dangerous because serious and frequently reversible conditions can be overlooked.

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3447.htm

I think any link on agonosia, such as this one, is very relevant, too:

http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/52/3/397

“poor insight into having an illness and into the benefits of treatment is clearly another symptom of the disorder, and has nothing to do with being defensive or stubborn.”

I don’t expect any evidence to prove there’s a new disease, and I wish someone could reach each person who thinks there is such a thing.

Gillian says:

Michael – the way this has come together for me is really quite ironic. My baby was actually due to be born today, the 26th May, 2007. I am officially in the fourth dimension.

The Fourth Dimension of Life: Fractal Geometry and Allometric Scaling of Organisms
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/284/5420/1677

Michael says:

No Gillian, that does not help me understand. I don’t know what is wrong with you. You don’t know what is wrong with you, yet you seem to feel you are the subject of an experiment, or some kind of medical conspiracy, when there seems to be no evidence that that is the case. I don’t understand. I can’t help you, and you will find no help on the internet. Listen to your doctors. Good luck.

Gillian says:

Michael – you tell me to listen to my doctor – Ha! funny man, I’ve just worked out that the doc is a scientologist.

What now?

Michael says:

You are not stupid Gillian. If you think your doctor is a quack, then get a new one.