How to Treat a Disease that Might not Exist - Can Colloidal Silver Treat the Morgellons Mystery?

Why not use a treatment the Food and Drug Administration has dismissed?

That seems to be the plan for one entrepreneur and a physician as they peddle a colloidal silver product to those who believe they suffer from Morgellons Disease.

If you haven't heard of Morgellons, you aren't alone. You don't need to feel bad, either. The Center for Disease Control doesn't recognize it, most physicians have never heard of it, and many experts argue that it's actually a psychological disorder.

Those who claim to live with Morgellons suffer from skin lesions and report seeing strange colored fibers emerging from their skin. They deal with intense and often constant itching and liken the sensation to being covered with crawling bugs. Some of them even claim to have seen small insects emerging from their flesh and many report experiencing mood disturbances and brain fogs.

Many of the Morgellons symptoms are similar to those of a disorder you can read about in the reputable medical literature--delusional parasitosis. Victims of this mental illness believe they're infested with insects and often experience disruptions in thought processes. They're also known to develop rashes and skin lesions due to constant scratching at the nonexistent bugs.

Self-diagnosed Morgellons sufferers are in pain and they are looking for an answer to their discomfort. They reject alternative diagnoses (including delusional parasitosis), believing their problems stem from this mystery ailment. Unwilling to accept a psychological explanation for their agony, they've blamed everything from government experiments gone awry to airplane contrails for the symptoms. Morgellons claims are attracting some attention and although some physicians are beginning to research alternate explanations for the exhibited symptomology, there is no consensus on the nature of the disease or its very existence. Those who claim to have it, though, are hurting and they're looking for a cure.

Enter Dr. James Matthews, a self-described Morgellons sufferer who has an answer. Matthews touted a possible treatment in a recent press release. He thinks the answer may lie in the use of colloidal silver.

Colloidal silver doesn't get much respect in the medical community. It's widely perceived as a modern-day snake oil. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration went so far as to say that "products containing colloidal silver or silver salts are not recognized as safe and effective and are misbranded."

To Matthews' credit, his press release does mention the government's rejection of the colloidal silver industry, which has touted products as cure-alls for years. He dismisses those claims based on alleged personal experience, results from two patients and a claim that science didn't know much about Morgellons in 1999. Matthews also reminds desperate patients to check with their personal physicians before taking colloidal silver.

However, if he's been around Morgellons sufferers, he knows that referencing an FDA ruling and mentioning personal physicians is unlikely to dissuade his target audience. He's appealing to people who have a strong distrust for the medical establishment and who have not found doctors willing to diagnose the mystery ailment as anything but delusional parasitosis or a variation of Lyme disease. His disclaimers seem unlikely to stop someone who thinks they have Morgellons from buying into a potential cure.

Matthews isn't just recommending colloidal silver--he's peddling it, too. The website to which the press release directs visitors recommends NutraSilver (a colloidal silver solution) and supplies visitors with links to purchase the product. If one evaluates those links closely, they'll notice that they are part of an affiliate sales plan and that Matthews and/or the site's founder, internet marketing expert Jeff Sohler, will receive a commission on every sale made through through site.

A page attributed to Dr. Matthews lets people know that they can promote NutraSilver. An evaluation of the product's affiliate program reveals that either the doctor or Sohler will get a cut of any sales made by those who sign on based on the site's promotion.

Matthews mentions the commission payments, noting that a "small percentage from some of the sales" will come his way. The fine print also claims that all of that money will be poured back into more Morgellons research--ostensibly by funding his "Morgellon's Treatment Foundation."

Interestingly, if you visit Matthews' online "Morgellons community," you'll find a statement of independence claiming that the site doesn't endorse any product, company or device. If you dig deeper after creating a log-in account, you can quickly find Dr. Matthews' "My Hope" page, which directly encourages the purchase and promotion of NutraSilver (a cached copy of that page is viewable here). The main page of the site also features links to purchase the product. Jeff Sohler is credited as the disclaimer's author.

We have a controversial potential disease that's attracting attention. We have a base of sufferers who desperately want someone to take them seriously and who long for an end to very painful symptoms. We've found a doctor who claims limited testing with a discredited product can ameliorate the condition and who has apparently teamed up with an internet marketing professional to create a site selling that product--and to collect commissions in the process.

It's quite possible that Sohler and Matthews are completely legitimate and above-board with their efforts. Dr. Matthews may believe that much-maligned colloidal silver offers real help for those claiming to have Morgellons and that the misleading disclaimer regarding product promotion is an accidental oversight. Considering the status of current medical research and the checkered past of colloidal silver remedies, however, those who do experience symptoms associated with Morgellons should take care to actually heed Matthews' press release warning. They should, minimally, consult with their primary care physician before grasping for the silver straw.