Morgellons is not only in Australia it is sweeping the world.

In Australia the National Institute of Clinical Studies (NICS) is an institute of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) which works to improve health care by helping close important gaps between best available evidence (what we know) and current clinical practice (what we do).

Today I sent an email to the NCIS and will post the response(s) when they arrive.

Sufferers have difficulty with the lack of reseach into this emerging disease. It is recognised as an emerging disease but that still hasn't sparked any large scale research being done. German researchers appear to be at the forefront of reseach and you will find extensive information there from all angles - Morgellons Research Organisation.

 symptoms

The Following Signs or Symptoms are The Basis of Morgellons Disease as defined by patients that fit within a consistent boundary that is also outside the boundary of other 'known' diseases. The initial three characteristics parallel a much more entrenched illness, Delusions of Parasitosis (DP) named decades before today's laboratory technology and infection/immunity knowledge, driven by HIV, developed. The more recent findings listed below provide a far broader and more consistent evidence base, strongly supporting the likelihood that DP is a prematurely assigned label to an organic, rather than purely psychiatric disease.

1. 'Filaments' are reported in and on skin lesions and at times extruding from intact-appearing skin. White, blue, red, and black are common among described fiber colors. Size is near microscopic, and good clinical visualization requires 10-30 X. Patients frequently describe ultraviolet light generated fluorescence. They also report black or white granules, similar in size and shape to sand grains, on or in their skin or on clothing. Most clinicians willing to invest in a simple hand held commercial microscope have thus far been able to consistently document the filaments.

2. Movement sensations, both beneath and on the skin surface. Sensations are often described by the patient as intermittently moving, stinging or biting. Involved areas can include any skin region (such as over limbs or trunk), but may be limited to the scalp, nasal passages, ear canals, or face...and curiously, legs below the knees.

3. Skin lesions, both (a) spontaneously appearing and (b) self-generated, often with pain or intense itching. The former (a) may initially appear as 'hive-like', or as 'pimple-like' with or without a white center. The latter (b) appear as linear or 'picking' excoriations. Even when not self-generated (as in unreachable regions of babies' skin), lesions often progress to open wounds that heal incompletely (e.g., heal very slowly with discolored epidermis or seal over with a thick gelatinous outer layer.). Evidence of lesions persists visually for years.

4. Musculoskeletal Effects & Pain is usually present, manifest in several ways. Pain distribution is broad, and can include joint(s), muscles, tendons and connective tissue. Both vascular and 'pressure' headaches and vertebral pain are particularly common, the latter usually with premature (e.g., age 20) signs of degeneration of both discs and vertebrae.

5. Aerobic limitation is universal and significant enough to interfere with the activities of daily living. Most patients meet the Fukuda Criteria for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as well (Fukuda, Ann. Int. Med., 1994). Cardiology data and consistently elevated heart rates suggest a persistent myocarditis creating lowered cardiac output that has been partially compensated for by Starling's Law.

6. Cognitive dysfunction, includes frontal lobe processing signs interfering with logical thinking as well as short-term memory and attention deficit. All are measurable by Standard Psychometric Test batteries.

7. Emotional effects are present in most patients. Character typically includes loss or limitation of boundary control (as in bipolar illness) and intermittent obsessional state. Degree varies greatly from virtually absent to seriously life altering.

OTHER COMMONLY REPORTED SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS

1. Shifting visual acuity. Unexplained frequent need to change glasses prescription, perceived changes in visual field, and scattered and changing level of perceived light intensity.

2. Numerous neurological symptoms and clinical findings. A variety of neurological symptoms and signs have been reported. Common physical findings include abnormal Romberg, peripheral neuropathy in ALL (feet, and in some cases fingers), abnormal reflexes, verifiable, probably neuropathic pain and recurrent brain control abnormalities affecting motor function, circadian rhythm, body temperature and respiratory rate.

3. Gastrointestinal symptoms, often including dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflux, swallowing difficulty, and changes in bowel habits (Similar to IBS or Crohn�s disease)4. Acute changes in skin texture and pigment. The skin is variously thickened and thinned, with irregular texture and hyper- OR hypo-pigmentation pattern. Overgrowth or hypergrowth phenomena are common (nevi, skin tags, microangioma, lipomas, callus formation).5. Arthralgias. Frequently reported, although arthritis is not. Common joints are in fingers, shoulders, knees and vertebrae.

COMMON LABORATORY ABNORMALITIES

Elevated cytokines: TNF-alpha, IL-6, TGF-beta; elevated inflammation markers: C-reactive protein and TNF-alpha; Immunodeficiency markers: low CD 56 or CD 57 number, low C1Q, low IgG subclasses 1 and 3; hematological abnormalities: low hemoglobin and hematocrit with abnormal RBC indices; and biochemical abnormalities: elevated blood glucose, insulin, calcium, and serum Homocysteine, and low serum potassium and magnesium.The consistent finding of numerous unexpected biologic agents at atypically high levels (some thought to be non-pathogens, others definitely pathogenic) strongly supports that an immune deficiency state exists in Morgellons patients. Agents identified serologically include many zoonoses (intermittently and in low numbers) such as Borrelia (at least five species) and Babesia, a single recently found gram negative bacterium, most herpes viruses, some strongly activated such as VZV and HHV-6, several mycology species (esp. Tineas), and particularly in those we have labeled Morgellons patients, parasites (species will be elaborated following PCR sequencing).