Causes, Symptoms and Cure for Leprosy
Know about leprosy and its cure
Leprosy is a disease that is caused by bacillus bacteria, which is linked to the same bacillus that causes tuberculosis. Leprosy has been known as a terrible disease since early times. In the Bible, the disease has been cited many times in both the Old and New Testaments.
Leprosy is a contagious infectious disease and is evident in its later stages as the flesh begins to rot. People with leprosy in Biblical times were feared and forced in special isolated colonies to prevent whole villages and cities from being infected with the disease.
The leprosy causing bacteria, bacillus mycobacterium leprae, infects the skin and attacks both the skin and peripheral nerves. The disease itself does not cause the flesh to rot, however, as the disease progresses and an infected person starts having the disfiguring skin sores and damage to the peripheral nerves, the victim can lose feeling in hands and feet.
When this occurs, someone can injure that limb and not feel any pain, so doesn’t notice the injury. With the injury not being detected, it will become contaminated and gangrene sets in-hence the flesh begins to rot.
Symptoms of leprosy A red spot that could be either darker or lighter than the victim’s skin is the first and oldest sign of leprosy. The leprosy causing germs can incubate in the body for quite a while before this symptom appears. The usual incubation period can range from three to five years.
2. Lesions will appear on several different part of the body which will lose sensation to touch, heat or pain. These lesions are also lighter in color than the normal color of the skin. Lesions that don’t heal for weeks or even months.
4. Numbness in arms, hands, legs or feet, as the leprosy bacillus attack the peripheral nerves in the limbs.
5. Muscle weakness can also be a symptom of leprosy.
The social effects of leprosy were harsher in the past than they are now. From the Middle Ages and before, by way of instance, leprosy was a dreaded disease and people who had been infected with leprosy were forcibly removed from society and placed in particular leper colonies in which they were left to die.
In the times of Christ, lepers were also isolated from society and if lepers were traveling, they had to wear a bell to warn others to stay away.
In the Middle Ages, there was more understanding of diseases generally and some treatments for leprosy were tried, but generally speaking, society was still very frightened of the disease.
Many hospitals and doctors who relied on charity and benefits in their communities refused to treat lepers and lepers were frequently forced from their communities. The disease divided families, couples, and ruined marriages. In actuality, in Western Europe, the Roman Catholic Church allowed for a canonical divorce for those whose spouse was infected with leprosy.
One Medieval treatment for leprosy was theriac, which was a concoction of viper’s flesh and other ingredients and was widely thought to cure leprosy. Mercury was also thought to be used to heal not just leprosy, but other diseases also.
The treatments today, however, are a lot more effective. Like most of bacterial infections, leprosy can be effectively treated with antibiotics. Most antibiotics, however, are not strong enough to take care of the bacillus mycobacterium leprae, because this bacterium, like its cousin that causes tuberculosis, can be resistant to many antibiotics.
For this reason, stronger antimicrobial medications are often used to treat leprosy. Some of the antimicrobial treatments used to treat leprosy include:
1. Sulfones in the form of an oral dapsone is usually the first treatment used to treat the disease. Some of those side-affects include hepatitis, exfoliated dermatitis and hypersensitivity reactions. Should this occur, sulfone treatment should stop immediately. Rifampin with a blend of clofazimine and ethionamide may be an alternative treatment for leprosy if sulfone treatment does not work.
3. Surgical correction or amputation might be required to treat some of the more acute signs of leprosy such as claw wrist or hand or foot drop. In these instances, the effected limbs may be necrotic and might even already have gangrene set in and would have to be removed.
Leprosy is a severe disease and your body could react to dead bacteria during the course of the aforementioned treatments.
How is leprosy delivered?
Leprosy is an infectious disease which is contagious, but it’s not as highly contagious as some other airborne ailments like the common cold or the flu. There are several ways leprosy is transmitted, which are listed below.
1. Household contact is the most common transmission of the disease. If someone in your household has leprosy, you could possible get it out of that person by sharing eating utensils or drinking glasses, as well as sexual contact and kissing.
2. Inhaling the germs by sitting by somebody who is infected with leprosy is just another manner in which the disease can be transmitted.
3. Insect bites from insects who take the bacillus mycobacterium leprae is another possible way which you can contract leprosy.
4. Nasal mucous membranes may also carry the bacteria that cause leprosy. In fact, the bacillus mycobacterium leprae can live in nasal fluids up to 36 hours.
Theoretically, leprosy usually infects a person once, but older people with weaker immune systems can be reinfected with leprosy.
Currently, the Infectious Disease Research Center together with the American Leprosy Missions has an aggressive campaign to curtail or even eliminate leprosy. Currently, the American Leprosy Missions has their”Deliver the Cure” program, which is a charitable program to assist children who are suffering from leprosy.
Leprosy is rare in the United States, but if you plan to travel to Africa, Latin America, or some parts of Asia, you could encounter areas where leprosy is widespread and there you may want to take precautions. When traveling to these areas, you should check with the US State Department, Riviera Beach Raccoon Removal or other organizations to find out what diseases can pose a problem and what vaccines you might want to travel to these countries.