Original sentence: This belief is generally regarded by doctors as either delusional or a result of simply mistaking fibers from clothing (lint) as fibers emerging from the body
Edited sentence: A real test would be for patients to sit in a research lab for 24 hours, naked, observed by technicians.A serious problem with conventional medicine is a formalistic and slavish adherence to "gold standard" practices, which are not always appropriate research tools.Observers should see the pepper, splinters, fibers, whatever, emerging from the skin within hours after a sugar meal.Patients claim that if doctors and researchers took the time to look, the researcher and doctors would also see the fibers emerging from the skin.Patients claim that no one has taken the time to look.Patients should be fed some high sugar meals before and during the test.Research should be adapted to what is being researched.Sugar, from my observation, encourages the "fibers" to become active.The belief that fibers are emerging from their skin is generally regarded by doctors as either delusional or a result of simply mistaking fibers from clothing (lint) as fibers emerging from the body.The diagnosis of delusional paraitosis is self confirming and circular.The real trouble is the "lack of time"  and the "gold standard" which prevents researchers from doing real observation.These doctors are not honest with their patients.They are looking for relief of their symptoms.They are more comfortable with thei idea of whacko patients who need to be played along with than they are with the possibility that doctors don't already know everything.They aren't looking for a diagnosis.This bland assumption of medical omniscience is scary.We all try to interprest reality in our current frame of reference.Wouldn't you