Leprosy

By Alex Grommet

Description

Leprosy is an infectious disease that is characterized by disfiguring skin sores, nerve damage, and progressive dehibilitation.

Scientific Description

Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous disease principally affecting the skin and peripheral nervous system. Leprosy is caused by infection with Mycobacterium leprae.

Other Signs or Symptoms

• Symptoms include:• Skin lesions that are lighter than your normal skin color

– Lesions have decreased sensation to touch, heat, or pain– Lesions do not heal after several weeks to months

• Numbness or absent sensation in the hands, arms, feet, and legs

• Muscle weakness

Cause

Leprosy is caused by the organism Mycobacterium leprae. It is not very contagious (difficult to transmit) and has a long incubation period (time before symptoms appear), which makes it difficult to determine where or when the disease was contracted. Children are more susceptible than adults to contracting the disease.

Cure/treatment

• Patients with leprosy should be treated by a doctor who has experience with the disease. Treatment is with multiple drugs for six months to two years.

• A number of different antibiotics are used to kill the bacteria that cause the disease.

• Aspirin, prednisone, or thalidomide are used to control inflammation.

Worst Case Scenario

• Early recognition is important. Early treatment limits damage by the disease, renders the person noninfectious (you can't catch the disease from them), and allows for a normal lifestyle. However if not dealt with, the disease will ultimately kill you.

Three facts

• Children are more susceptible than adults to contracting the disease.

• There are two different types of Leprosy, tuberculoid and lepromatous. The lepromatous form is most severe, producing large, disfiguring lumps and bumps ( nodules).

• Even if leprosy is cured, victims may still suffer from debilitations caused by the disease.

Sources

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002323/

• http://www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/communicable/leprosy/fact_sheet.htm

• http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1104977-overview

• hardinmd.lib.uiowa.edu• microscopicblog.blogspot.com• bio.davidson.edu