ReviewClinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology2018
History of Morgellons disease: from delusion to definition.
Review in Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Public perception of Morgellons disease: Lay media controversies and patient perspectives.JAAD international · 2025Article
- Morgellons disease: a narrative review.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Review
- Perceived Conjunctival Foreign Material Egress in Morgellons Disease: A Case Study.Case reports in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Delusional Infestation: A case of Ekbom syndrome in an elderly woman with a long history of HIV.Clinical case reports · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
- Treatment of Morgellons disease with doxycycline.Clinical case reports · 2021Article
- Dermatological and Genital Manifestations of Lyme Disease Including Morgellons Disease.Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2021Article
- Classification and Staging of Morgellons Disease: Lessons from Syphilis.Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2020Article
- Differentiating Psychosomatic, Somatopsychic, Multisystem Illnesses, and Medical Uncertainty.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Review
- MixedHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- Multidisciplinary involvement and potential of thermophiles.Folia microbiologica · 2019Review
- Clinical evaluation of Morgellons disease in a cohort of North American patients.Dermatology reports · 2018Article
- Persistent Borrelia Infection in Patients with Ongoing Symptoms of Lyme Disease.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Article
- Reframing delusional infestation: perspectives on unresolved puzzles.Psychology research and behavior management · 2018Review
- Detection of tick-borne infection in Morgellons disease patients by serological and molecular techniques.Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2018Article
- Morgellons-like Disease of the Scalp.International journal of trichologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Morgellons disease (MD) is a skin condition characterized by the presence of multicolored filaments that lie under, are embedded in, or project from skin. Although the condition may have a longer history, disease matching the above description was first reported in the US in 2002. Since that time, the condition that we know as MD has become a polemic topic. Because individuals afflicted with the disease may have crawling or stinging sensations and sometimes believe they have an insect or parasite infestation, most medical practitioners consider MD a purely delusional disorder. Clinical studies supporting the hypothesis that MD is exclusively delusional in origin have considerable methodological flaws and often neglect the fact that mental disorders can result from underlying somatic illness. In contrast, rigorous experimental investigations show that this skin affliction results from a physiological response to the presence of an infectious agent. Recent studies from that point of view show an association between MD and spirochetal infection in humans, cattle, and dogs. These investigations have determined that the cutaneous filaments are not implanted textile fibers, but are composed of the cellular proteins keratin and collagen and result from overproduction of these filaments in response to spirochetal infection. Further studies of the genetics, pathogenesis, and treatment of MD are warranted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.