Morgellons Disease

Morgellons Disease is an unexplained dermopathy. The disease name was given by the mother whose child fell ill in 2002 with numerous symptoms that could not be categorized into a known disease. One of the “defining” characteristics is the physical presence of small diameter “filaments” which protrude from painful skin lesions.The primary goals of the investigation are to help us learn more about who may be affected with Morgellons Disease, the symptoms they experience, and to generate hypotheses about factors that may contribute to it. The investigation will involve: determining the clinical and epidemiologic features of this condition; assessing the histopathology of skin biopsies from affected patients; characterizing foreign material such as fibers or threads obtained from persons with the condition; and estimating rates of illness among the study population.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not know the cause of this condition nor whether this condition is new. In an effort to learn more about this condition, the CDC is conducting an epidemiologic investigation using Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Division of Research to assist CDC in the investigation of this condition. The study began in January 2008 and is ongoing.As pointed out by the Morgellons Disease Foundation, these three symptoms parallel a psychiatric diagnosis -- Delusions of Parasitosis (DP). However, there is reported laboratory evidence of the actual fibers which proves they aren’t imagined.

60 foot phallus

A British teenager inspired by an ancient fertility symbol painted a 60-foot phallus on the roof of his parents house, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.Rory McInnes painted the giant genitalia on the newly-finished flat roof of his parents' million-pound mansion in a village 60 miles (100 kilometres) west of London, The Sun tabloid said.The 18-year-old student said he had decided to act last year after watching a documentary about the satellite images on Google Earth, saying he thought the artwork would make his parents' home stand out.

The oversized organ is an enlarged copy of the most well-known feature of the Cerne Abbas Giant, an 80-foot (55-metre) figure of a naked man which is carved into the side of a chalk hill in Dorset, southwest England.Clearly sexually aroused, the club-wielding giant is believed to be an Iron Age fertility symbol which has proven popular with copulating couples hoping to conceive.

When he got hold of Rory, who is spending a year travelling between finishing school and starting university, the teen reportedly said: "Oh, you?ve found it then!""It?s an April Fool?s joke, right? There?s no way there?s a 60-foot phallus on top of my house," he said before ringing round each of his four children.But the McInneses were clearly not keen on the idea of their rooftop art acting as a fertility charm.

3 day potty training

Dear Dr. Fox: My daughter e-mailed you recently, asking whether you had any suggestions to help rid my dog of frequent epileptic seizures. His vet has him on phenobarbital and sodium bromide daily and a high-fat diet – four tablespoons olive oil, two tablespoons butter and one egg each day. He was still having one seizure a day for three or four days in a row. You suggested putting him on gluten-free food. So I started that right away, and he hasn’t had a seizure since Jan. 9. You e-mailed my daughter to see how he was doing, so that’s why I’m sending this note. Thank you so much for the advice. I just hope it continues to work for him. It has been great having him seizure-free for this long. – L.McC., Silver Spring, Md.Dear S.M.G.: Your wonderful dog has been trained to go potty indoors, and that can be a hard-to-break fixation. Begin by taking a soiled pad outdoors for her to sniff. Take a soiled piece in a plastic bag on your walks, and put the soiled material on the ground for her to investigate. This may trigger her urination/marking response or defecation. When and if she goes outdoors, give her plenty of praise.

Dear Dr. Fox: My granddaughter has two pet cats that she has had for about a year, but they were mature cats when she got them. She is now pregnant, and I’ve heard old wives’ tales about cats and babies, and none of them are good. Please publish this so everyone can know the truth. – C.B., St. Louis, Mo.Dogs can develop “sore” vocal cords with persistent barking, usually associated with an infection like kennel cough. As dogs get older, their vocal cords (as with many humans) become more “croaky” and have limited range. You can often tell when a dog is stone-deaf – the tone of the bark rarely changes.Dogs bark for many reasons and have a variety of barks for different situations and events. Your situation calls for immediate action by the police and animal-welfare/protection agencies if you think the dog is being neglected and may be barking to be let indoors or if the barking truly disturbs your peace.