← All Episodes

Jul 31 2014

How Morgellons Disease Works

34 min 4 movies discussed
Listen

There is a condition that can cause people to feel bugs crawling beneath their skin so acutely that they will use tweezers to pluck them from their eyeballs. It's a terrible disorder made worse by medicine's insistence it is all in sufferers' heads.

AI Summary

In this fascinating and mysterious Stuff You Should Know episode, Josh and Chuck dive into Morgellons disease, a controversial condition first described in 2002 that has the medical establishment completely divided. Sufferers report feeling like bugs are crawling under their skin, mysterious colored fibers emerging from sores, and intense itching sensations, but doctors largely dismiss it as delusional parasitosis - essentially telling patients it's all in their heads. The hosts explore the bizarre research findings, including fibers that supposedly can't be identified by the FBI database, the CDC's controversial study conclusions, and why this strange ailment has created such a heated battle between patients desperately seeking help and a medical community that refuses to take them seriously.


Movies Discussed

Deep Throat in Tokyo
Deep Throat in Tokyo
1975 1h 17m
★ 3.6
"Films like Deep Throat, placed in the top 10 of the year — Referenced as an example of theatrical pornographic films during the X-rating era"
Hey Dude
Hey Dude
1989
★ 6.8
"stars of the cult classic show HeyDude — Referenced in an advertisement for a podcast hosted by former stars of the show"
Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Cowboy
1969 1h 53m
★ 7.5
"Midnight Cowboy, a claim for winning Best Picture as an X-rated film — Mentioned in listener mail discussing the history of X-ratings by the MPAA"
The Last House on the Left
The Last House on the Left
1972 1h 24m
★ 6.0
"spliced in an R rating banner from a different film into his 1973 film The Last House on the Left — Cited as an example of Wes Craven's struggle with MPAA ratings in listener mail"

💬 Comments

Log in to leave a comment.

No comments yet. Be the first!