Morgellons Study Cited by Faculty of 1000

Study of Emerging Skin Disease Among Top 2% Published

AUSTIN, Texas (June 19, 2012). A recent study of Morgellons disease has been cited as a “must read” by the Faculty of 1000 (F1000). The article entitled “Morgellons Disease: A Chemical and Light Microscopic Study”, by MJ Middelveen, EH Rasmussen, DG Kahn and RB Stricker, was published in the open‐access online Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dermatology Research. Three of the authors, including the principal investigator, serve without compensation on the Advisory Boards of The Charles E. Holman Foundation.

F1000 is a global community of over 10,000 experts who select, rate and evaluate the very best articles in biology and medicine. The service is widely used to find significant new research articles, and the inclusion of the Morgellons article places the work in the top 2% of published articles in these fields. The study evaluation can be accessed at the F1000 website ( http://f1000.com/716597867).In 2011, veterinary microbiologist Marianne J. Middelveen from Calgary, Alberta, Canada and internist Raphael B. Stricker, MD published a study documenting similarities between Morgellons disease and a veterinary illness known as bovine digital dermatitis (BDD) that causes lameness, decreased milk production, weight loss, and skin lesions near the hooves of affected cattle. That study revealed that the unusual fibers seen in the animal disease were similar to those seen in and under the skin of people worldwide who suffer from Morgellons disease. The new study confirms that Morgellons disease is not a delusional illness, as some in the medical community maintain.

The latest findings confirm that fibers from both bovine and human samples were similar in formation at the cellular level and had the chemical and physical properties of keratin. The keratin composition of filaments from humans was confirmed by immunohistological staining with antibodies specific for human keratins. Fibers from human patients were found to be biological in origin and are produced by keratinocytes in epithelial and follicular tissues. The findings are consistent with the 2012 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publication stating that over 80% of non‐biopsy material taken from patients had a protein composition.

“This study puts the final nail in the coffin of delusional disease that these patients have been labeled with,” stated Dr. Stricker. “It proves that Morgellons disease is a physiologic illness. From here on, scientists will be able to move forward in finding a cause and a cure.”

The Charles E. Holman Foundation is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization committed to advocacy and philanthropy in the fight against Morgellons disease. The foundation was named for Charles E. Holman, a pioneer in the fight against Morgellons disease. The Charles E. Holman Foundation is based in Austin, Texas and is led by Executive Director, Cindy Casey Holman, R.N.

For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact Ms. Cindy Casey, R.N.