How lesions form in skin

[2manyfibers]

Lesions form in the skin of the human body based on a mechanical, molecular process. A lesion formed in the skin is a response by the body to some action or stimulus. Causes can include irritation, abrasions, parasites, insect bites, fungus or minor wounds in the surface of the skin. To understand how lesions form, it helps to understand how the skin is constructed.

Human skin is formed in many layers and the thickness of skin varies depending on where it is located in the body (the actual number of layers is difficult to determine and medical sources vary as to how many layers there actually are). The deepest layers of skin reside in what is called the reticular layer (or true dermis). These layers are mainly made up of networks of overlapping, swirling collagen fibers and these layers are where the skin is actually “produced”. The surface layers of skin are mainly made up of dead skin cells that are deposited on the surface as tiny sacs of liquid keratin. A “gel-like” layer in between is believed to consist mainly of chondroiton sulfate according to recent research. One reason it is difficult to determine the actual number of layers in skin is that the layers aren’t very distinct – they are “knitted” together so perfectly that it is hard to distinguish where one layer stops and another one starts.

Skin forms itself in the body cell by cell using a very complicated (miraculous) process with DNA being the chemist and construction supervisor. Live skin cells are formed beneath or in the reticular layer and they have to constantly make their way through the deepest layers to become the dead skin cells we see on the surface (all the skin we see on our bodies are made of dead cells on the surface). In order for these skin cells to “rise” to the surface, they have to pass through the dense network of collagen fibers that make up the reticular layer (and the “gel-like” layer of chondroiton). The body produces enzymes that temporarily dissolve microscopic sections of this fiber network which allows the skin cells to pass through it (once the cell passes through, the body replaces this microscopic section of fibers with collagens). These enzymes are the only known solvent of collagen fibers – relatively strong acids (acids with a ph of 1 – sulfuric acid from a car battery has a ph of about 1) cannot dissolve these fibers even over an extended period of time. The following link is a good “primer” on how the skin of the human body is constructed (it appears to be aimed at beginning medical students and provides a good, basic overview of the construction of skin including hair, blood vessels and everything else):

http://www.angelfire.com/sd2/bi173/enotes2.html

There are many different unique types of keratins created in the body (26 are known at this time) and they are produced and distributed based on instructions from our DNA. Some keratins are acidic (from a chemical alkalinity perspective) while others are basic (not acidic). I’ve outlined the basic nutrients required for the body to form keratins in other posts. The major nutrients include beta carotene (which the body converts to vitamin A), sulfur, zinc, and the amino acids lysine and proline. The many different types of keratins formed in the body depend on the availability of other “minor” nutrients (for instance keratin K1 may require a small amount of a given mineral while K16 may require a small amount of a different mineral as part of the chemical formula). A good portion of the skin on the surface of our bodies is made of keratin K6 (K6 is one of the different types of keratin). Keratin K6 is also naturally deposited by the body in response to “wounds” in the skin (which could be an insect bite, parasite activities in the skin, abrasions, etc.) and mechanically helps to “glue” the skin together and repair it.

A common “beauty” treatment used to reduce wrinkles in skin called Retinol A (chemically it is retinoic acid which is a derivative of vitamin A) is used to take advantage of this natural reaction by the body. Retinol A is known as a keratin promoter which means that it promotes the deposition of keratin where it is topically applied to the skin. The way Retinol A works to reduce wrinkles is that it “tricks” the body into “thinking” that a wound has occurred at the site the retinol A is applied (this substance passes through the skin deeply enough to reach keratin “receptors” in the skin that tell the body when a wound has occurred – just more evidence of how miraculous DNA truly is). The body’s natural reaction to this “imaginary” wound is to produce keratin K6 and deposit it at the site of the “wound”. This mechanically “expands” the skin at this specific site which lessens the appearance of wrinkles (mechanically “raises” the skin in the “crevice” of a wrinkle).

Regardless of how a “wound” occurs to the skin, the body’s reaction is to produce and deposit liquid keratin to the wound site (and later collagens depending on the depth and severity of the wound) as part of the natural healing process. The skin is “glued” back together and then “knitted” together using keratins and collagens. Based on my experience and research, I think the lesions in Morgellons are a result of the body reacting to some stimulus or action (it could be a parasitic infection, insect bites, fungi, a deficiency in specific nutrients that allows the skin to “break down” at a microscopic level, or other similar occurrences or combinations of these things). Regardless of how the body is impacted such that its reaction is to produce and deposit these keratins, the basic mechanical process of lesions forming is the same. I think one reason the lesions that occur in Morgellons may have certain characteristics (like being more firmly attached to the skin and deeper in the skin, gelatinous consistency, “raised” edges, etc.) may be because of the type of “wounds” suffered combined with nutritional factors and how each individuals DNA responds (or can respond based on the nutrients available to produce keratins).

Based on my own experience with lesions and my research, I believe the lesions in Morgellons cases may be more of a keratin “puddle” rather than the normal “scabs” we are more familiar with (which also usually consist of dried blood which weakens the “scab” structurally). Keratin is a very tough, durable protein that in its liquid forms has properties similar to glue. Some skin cancers exhibit lesions that are known as keratin puddles because they form as a “puddle” of liquid keratin in areas affected by the cancer (cancers are caused by deformed cells that replace “good” cells in the natural process of maintaining the body). These puddles eventually “harden” into a gelatinous, deeply embedded lesion on the skin. Often, these lesions are anchored deeply into the skin by a deep “keratin plug” in the middle of the lesion. The only known (or medically accepted) methods of removing these types of lesions in skin cancers is to destroy the lesions with a very strong acid, or surgically remove them. I think the same principles of lesion formation may apply to Morgellons – the “wounds” in Morgellons are such that keratins are deposited from the deep layers of skin (making them very firmly attached) in response to the type of “wound” the body senses and where the body “senses” that wound occuring (how deeply the “wound” goes into the skin).

I believe in my case, the collagen fibers (which became severely overgrown from an excess of the nutrients required to build the two most prevalent structural proteins in the body, collagens and keratins) broke in the skin once I stopped taking the applicable nutritional supplements and caused my body to “sense” that a wound had occurred which resulted in the formation of keratin puddles (lesions) in my skin in various places. The lesions sometimes formed in my skin before my very eyes with no visible cause (I would see a “puddle” start to form and it would soon become a lesion). I believe the toughness of these lesions stemmed from the depth they were in the skin (the keratins were bonded to the deep layers of skin where they came from – the keratin on the surface is chemically bonded to the keratin in the deep layers of skin) and the fact that they were mostly keratin (not much blood in them to weaken the strength of the keratin). The raised edges around the lesions may stem from the bodies natural tendency to “pull the skin together” as part of the normal healing process (the tension of the underlying collagen fibers may play a role as well). If parasites or fungi are the underlying cause of lesions, I think it is possible that the same type of lesion may form because of the depth of the "infection" or possibly from damage to the collagen fibers or keratins in the skin that are produced by these things.

Medical science really is only beginning to understand the processes of how skin constructs itself at a molecular level and it is also only beginning to understand the mechanics and causation of lesions in the skin. The link below is to an article that discusses migrating skin lesions and possible causes (it is heavy in medical jargon, but still an interesting read if you have Morgellons):

http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v1.../5601905a.html

There are more articles available if you google “migrating skin lesions” or similar word strings and several discuss parasites as a cause. However, regardless of the causes of skin lesions, as a general statement, the formation of the lesions is basically the same mechanical and molecular process in all cases.

[ladycolorado]

yes too many i know about the hard scabs, but i am sure you know this but the stuff comes from inside. like it pools as you said. yes loves wounds a weak area. this hard scab is like a happy umbella or poncho or whatever that shelters all the happy organisms bacteria fungi parasites specks fibers etc it is a shield which acts this way to laugh at whatever treatments we wish to shower on it. so, this stuff comes from inside out i think, ad sometimes ouside in if fibers see a weak area to nest in. i do believe there is a different "mother organism" which i have seen i the peroxide bath come out of lesions, it looks like a tiny jellyfish has been written about on morgellons european website and i think what makes this hard crust. (LC).

[2manyfibers]

Hey LC - even if it is a parasite directly under the lesion, I think the "scab" over the lesion is keratin - that's just how DNA works. If the body senses a wound of some kind, its natural response is to deposit keratin to the wound site. I think it is possible that parasites could secrete chemical substances that could become part of the lesion or scab, but the scab itself I think is mostly keratin. It is a very tough protein and could effectively form a shield over a parasite that would be hard to penetrate. The keratin in skin cells is what makes the body waterproof and resistant to absorbing chemicals or other things through the skin.

[ladycolorado]

could very well be 2manyfibers, a few theories on it, ad what hair and nails made from right? hey but i thik something else weird in there maybe you have been putting up really good posts, please do not stop i ejoy the. my point is this stuf sytematic , so stuff attacks us outside and comes out from inside too. but think morgellons disease interates so well that it uses our own imnune system against us, does that make sense? that was my main point. today cleaning catheter stich sites which have become keylois and wow really weird! the fake scab or whatever it is came off, and then with rubbing all these black specks and fibers and white things coming out of such a tiny area! yet still i could feel a thousand more like minute catus needles or micro shards of glass in there (the fibers and primordial soup) and after 20x pain just too much, so just bee putting some on there to sit after the wiping with paper towels and hands with stuff on it too and all. and guess what happened? no fake scab, no blood but just black specks coming out of the wound. showed my hubbie on webcam and he about fell out of his chair. used non sick son as control nothing happened just the stuff on disease but me, was pretty weird. when did have catheter put in first dose of ceftriaxone black specks were at every wound site and filling clear dressing covering catheter site the iv meds made me a raid commercial. had a wound on hand from a fall and mass exodus there too. plus for five days my face swelled no allergic thing but all the toxins in face dying to get out and and shed greenish gray skin with the primordial soup in it for five days like an alien snake. i was not alone those here with me at the time wewre shocked. the really weird thing for a time on iv at first they were hungry so since i was no snack, they attacked everyone here in house, they are fine, but weird. yes takes advantage off scab defense, itegrates into mucus defense sytem , blends with dead skin making a biofilm, and even is in our bloodcells in everything. so a big old pain. even in bone. some eeds either air from surface, or gets it from red bloodcells i think. so in other words, we can have improvement but we are still as messed up as a soup sandwich, (LC).

[ladycolorado]

here is link all theory of course, i am talking about the starfish organisms used to see in baths early into treatment, particularily the peroxide salt baths. it looked like a little jellyfish, and since fewer of them this critter moght be the one makes the clear or red gel that gets super hard. here is the link: http://www.morgellons.eu/symptoms.php . they theorize on this site makes fibers but i think makes goo too. gee frustrating when cannot find something, thanks 2manyfibers you are very intelligent, please contiue to post, i like how you look at things, (LC).

[2manyfibers]

Hey LC – the intent of my original post was to simply provide information on how the body creates lesions based on established human physiology and the science of DNA. I think we’re in agreement that Morgellons is systemic in nature. If you really think about it, any response or reaction by the human body to anything is going to be a “systemic” response simply by “the nature of the beast”. If you bend over to pick up a rock, it is a systemic response by the body – your brain has to send an electrical impulse throughout several trillion cells in your body that in turn causes you to bend over, grasp your fingers together to clench the rock and then to bring yourself upright again (then to throw the rock at whoever made you mad enough to pick up the rock to begin with is a another systemic response). There are a lot of different things that have to happen in this “system” that is the human body to achieve the end result no matter what causes a reaction by the body. This principle is really the same for Morgellons or any other disease or injury. It doesn’t matter if the initial cause stems from a virus, bacteria, fungus, parasites, chemtrails or anything else. Several complex reactions and interactions of many individual components have to happen (which is a workable definition of a system) for the body to do anything, regardless of what triggers that response.

The response by the human body (based on the actions of DNA) to any breach in the skin is to deposit keratin to the site. Your body has to first produce the keratins and collagens needed to heal wounds, then it has to apply these proteins wherever the wound occurs (which is a pretty miraculous process in itself when you think about it). If you want to look at it this way, this can be considered an autoimmune system response. For practical matters, keratin is what creates the surface of human skin and is the chemical barrier that makes us “waterproof” and prevents most chemicals and other things from entering the skin. Thus, when the skin is injured in any way, the body’s inherent response is to deposit keratin to the site in an attempt to “seal” the breach, prevent infection and permanently heal the wound. Practically every structure in the human body (excluding bone) is at least partially constructed of keratins (the heart, lungs, stomach, kidneys, liver, and practically anything else you can name) and is formed by DNA depositing keratins (and collagens) according to a specific set of complex instructions based on the sequence and arrangement of the base pairs that constitute DNA. That’s what makes a cow a cow, a chicken a chicken, or a human being a human being; every animal uses the same basic materials in the form of collagens and keratins to construct its body – it just depends on how DNA molecules are arranged and how that arrangement instructs the process of “putting these proteins together” that makes the difference in whatever organism is produced.

Actually, you have a perfect example of this action by the body in the form of your catheter scar. The reason it healed is because your body deposited keratin to the site to “seal” the hole in the skin and later deposited collagens and more keratin to “knit” the “breach” in your skin back together permanently by forming a scar. Thus, whatever else you find coming out of a lesion or “scab” (like the black specs you’ve seen or organisms of some kind), if you’re a human being (or even any other animal), a large part of what forms a lesion in your skin will be keratin. According to recent research, the keloid scarring you mentioned is actually caused by the actions of a handful of keratin genes in certain individual’s DNA (the way these genes perform in individuals that have this genetic trait results in a keloid scar when their body heals a wound). Sometimes scars can be “raised” above the skin (causing a scar that is similar to keloid scarring) by an incision being made across the direction in which Langer’s Lines (collagen fibers) run underneath the skin (the collagen fibers have to heal “end-to-end” rather than along their length which can create this type of scarring). Good plastic surgeons use Langer’s lines to determine how to make an incision that will leave the least amount of scarring by cutting along the ‘length” of these collagen fibers rather than across them.

I’ve read about the “starfish” appearance of organisms (or whatever it is) as they relate to Morgellons. I’ve seen a few of these personally from my experience although they didn’t come from my lesions but rather from the skin itself. I think in my case these “starfish” shaped things were actually overgrown fibroblasts in my skin (a fibroblast is a small formation in skin that secretes collagens and serves as a “junction” point for the formation of elastin fibers – they kind of “anchor” elastin fibers in the skin). Whether my experience with this is relevant to anyone else’s experience, I have no way of knowing. I do know there are microorganisms that are similar in shape to a starfish though.

I personally think that what has become known as Morgellons likely isn’t caused by a single organism or pathogen in all cases. The set of symptoms that characterize Morgellons could potentially be caused by many different things including parasites, bacteria, viruses, fungi, nutritional deficiencies (or even excesses of specific nutrients as I believe was the causative factor in my case), or even a combination of them. I think every case could be a little different – the causes may differ, but the symptoms are very similar which to me indicates that the human body’s response (as a complex, “closed” system) to whatever causes may exist end up producing similar symptoms.

As an example of a possible nutritional cause, zinc is a nutrient that can cause lesions in skin if the body has a deficiency of it (this stems from the body’s inability to produce collagens and keratins without zinc being available to produce the enzymes that initiate the production of these proteins). My post on the possibility of scurvy being related to Morgellons provides additional explanation of how nutritional factors can explain the most or all of the symptoms of Morgellons. I think the immune system may or may not be compromised depending on each individual case (historically, my immune system has proven to be “too strong” in certain situations and I have no reason to believe my immune system was compromised in any way, yet I suffered some of the symptoms of Morgellons to a severe degree including the strangest ones of mysterious fibers and lesions). I’ve personally experienced nothing whatsoever to indicate that I have suffered a parasitic infection or other type of infection in my case, or that my immune system was somehow compromised or suppressed. However, I have no reason to doubt that these things may well be involved in other cases and could be at least partially responsible (if not completely so) for the symptoms of many cases of Morgellons.

That is probably one of the major difficulties in solving the mystery of Morgellons – medical science and all of the people suffering through this condition are dealing with an extremely complex system in the human body (that inherently has slight variations in design and performance in every individual) that is experiencing a reaction to one or more things that produce a similar set of symptoms. That’s why I think a forum is a good thing to address this issue. By definition, a forum is based on the free flow of information and free exchange of ideas. It doesn’t bother me if someone disagrees with my information, opinions or ideas – people are perfectly free to be completely wrong about things if they want to be…….... (just kidding of course – just thought I would add a little levity – I think a little humor and fun helps keep people sane and helps keep the spirits up when they are suffering through bad times, so I'm not trying to upset anybody here ). Hopefully whatever I post will give people new information and something else to consider that may help them in their own specific situation. I’ll leave it to the reader as to whether my information has any application or relevance to their situation. Hopefully people can learn something of value to them from me just as I have learned from many other people here. The internet really does make it much easier to educate yourself quite well about most anything than in times past.

Thanks as well for the kind words. My intent of signing up here was to provide information that I thought might be helpful to others based on my own experience and research. I personally believe that nutritional factors may be very important regardless of what the cause (or causes) of Morgellons actually is. My belief is based on the truly systemic nature of the human body itself. The DNA of the human body literally constructs and maintains itself based almost solely on what we consume in the form of nutrition (of course environmental factors like toxins or pathogens have some effect as well). There is more truth to the old saying “you are what you eat” than you might imagine without giving it a lot of consideration. DNA for the most part uses an incredible variety of combinations of nutrients to produce the chemical compounds that are responsible for our very existence (when you eat a meal, the nutrients in the food vary greatly and they are combined into thousands of chemical compounds that DNA uses to do its miraculous work of building and maintaining our bodies – supplements are simply another method of getting nutrients into the body). But given how the body truly constructs and maintains itself “cell by cell” based on the chemical compounds our DNA creates from nutritional substances, it simply makes sense to me that nutrition plays a critical role in fighting any disease or condition including Morgellons, regardless of what the initial causes for the problems that exist may be.

As an added bonus, here’s a little health related joke (and you may consider it to be more “little” than I intended and may not consider it to be much of a bonus as well):

A tourist was hiking through the Appalachian Mountains when she came upon a wizened, frail, white-haired, old man sitting on the porch of his dilapidated cabin in a rocking chair, grinning from ear to ear. She was intrigued by his obvious happiness and good cheer, so she decided to strike up a conversation. She told the old timer “you sure look like a happy man that has really enjoyed life”. The old man replied “I sure have – I’ve always been just as happy as a body could be”. The tourist then said to the old man, “Anyone who’s lived as long as you have and is as cheerful as you are at your age must have a secret to share; tell me, is it the fresh air and simple living that made you this way? Please tell me your secret”. The “old-timer” responded “my rules for happiness and a good life are that I drink at least a gallon of corn liquor and smoke at least 3 packs of cigarettes every day”. The woman looked at him in amazement and said “That’s incredible! I would have thought that such a lifestyle wouldn’t be compatible with a long life. How old are you if you don’t mind my asking?” The old man responded, “If the good Lord allows me to live ‘til then, I’ll be 34 years old next month”.

[ladycolorado]

good joke, 2manyfibers but good posts you are doing. i guess think of these things as alive for some reason, if baths are weak have seen stiff swim and creepy stuff but the keratinn could be by-product enhanced by diet, i do agree combination of factors. there are a few theories on the casing of the fivbers so to speak, keraatin, plyethylene, cellulose, chelatin. keratin could be the fibers that burn. question? ONCE had fiber would not burn, what are those coated in? perhaps the disease takes advantage of our body system, like using our kertin in more concentration against us. or how it uses mucus system as a super highway. what do you think? (LC). here is a joke skit posted but might like like when very obvious sick trying to get a dermatologist to listen (keep in mind fake bird) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GipFy...elated&search= (LC). p.s. there are scientists by the way agree totally with what you are saying.

[2manyfibers]

I think the fibers that don't burn could possibly be elastin - one of the links I put in my document that I posted on the web (the link to it is in my first post on the board under the theories and speculation section) was on the proteins in beef. The collagens in beef are very similar chemically to human collagens (the different type classifications are basically the same). In that link, they noted that collagen fibers naturally flouresce under UV light which has allowed meats to be "graded" for collagen content using light-based instruments today. From the research I've seen on Morgellons fibers they also naturally flouresce as well, so its possible that collagen fibers could explain this phenomnon - especially since they are incredibly prevalent in the human body. The article also notes that collagen fibers can be destroyed by heat (in cooking), but elastin fibers are very heat resistant and can't be destroyed by cooking (or even damaged much if any). Elastin is a very similar protein to collagen (it used to be known as a type of collagen), but these fibers stretch where collagen fibers don't. The article doesn't give any specific information on how much heat the elastin fibers can withstand, but I would assume that cooking meat can reach 500 to 600 degrees F (think Ruth's Cris steaks that I think are broiled at even higher temperatures). I haven't found any information that indicates what the temperature limitations of elastin are before it actually burrns, but based on what I have found, it might be possible that the elastin could withstand extremely high temperatures.

I know one of the researchers (I think mentioned on the OSU Morgellons website) did determine that at least one of the fibers was determined to by cytoskeletal keratin. Some of the other lab examinations have concluded that Morgellons fibers contain silica. Since silica is a primary component of both collagens and keratins (silica is what provides strength and stability to collagen fibers), it seems to me to add to the possibility that Morgellons fibers may well consist of collagen or keratin. I think the body also may make collagen or keratin fibers that may not be the exact chemical composition that they normally would be if the body has deficiencies in any of the many ingredients required by the body for producing these proteins (DNA does the best that it can with the materials it has to work with). I think it may also be plausible that parasitic infections, bacteria or something of the kind could influence the composition of the body's collagen and keratin fibers and the production of or potential degradation to these fibers.

One of the posts I made under the "morgellons pictures" section under "collagen fibers" shows a good diagram of the collagen fibers that make up the deep layers of skin. It might interest you particularly because you could see how the fibers are arranged where your catheter incision was and may tell if they cut accross the lines instead of with them.

[ladycolorado]

as far as i know like micro pine forest fibers stright up in them tiy but can feel like 1000 tiny cactus spines and think stright up like a cocktail lol. can you see the video? let us have a laugh and chat more. o, this is interesting and know southerners actually intelligent afterall marries a man from tn, lol. (LC)>