Post your articles online and promote your website for free! Boost your sites ranking by linking it from the ArticleZap database! Free Article directory and instant translation publishing!
Leprosy, caused by the Mycobacterium leprae bacillus, a chronic disease of man characterized by lesions of the skin and superficial nerves and also possibly involving the eyes, testes, and mucous membranes of the nose and pharynx. Destruction of the peripheral nerves by the bacillus leads to a characteristic loss of sensation, which, together with progressive tissue degeneration, may result in the extremities becoming deformed and falling off.
There are two principal types of leprosy: (1) The lepromatous, or cutaneous, is marked by widespread infiltration by grainy masses of chronically inflamed tissue under the skin, the mucosal membranes of the upper respiratory tract, the face, and testes; untreated, its prognosis is poor. (2) The tuberculoid is marked by initial macular (stainhike) lesions with raised, reddish borders and by patches that become insensitive to physical stimulus as they spread. This type may remain quiescent or improve, with spontaneous disappearance of the lesions and complete recovery.
Modern therapy of both types involves the long-range use of sulfone drugs, which brings about immediate arrest of the infection and improvement in most cases, but the drugs may produce undesirable side effects or even exacerbations of the symptoms in some individuals. Occasionally the infection persists despite continued chemotherapy. Newer, less toxic drugs that may be effective with the more untractable cases were being developed in the 1970s, but research on leprosy has been generally hindered by the fact that Mycobacterium leprae is one of the few disease-causing bacteria that have not yet been successfully cultivated experimentally on artificial culture media.
BR>
Leprosy seems to date back to antiquity. In the early 1970s, the disease was most prevalent in low, humid, tropical or subtropical areas of the world, most cases being found in Asia, Africa, South America, and the Pacific Islands.
Reported cases of leprosy throughout the world number at least 2,000,000, and the actual number of infected individuals may be as high as 10,000,000. The mode of transmission of leprosy is still unclear. It would seem that prolonged, close physical contact with an infected person usually (but not invariably) precedes active infection in susceptible persons. Congenital leprosy is unknown; infants born of infected parents do not develop the disorder if separated from them at birth. Accidental transmission has been known to occur by improperly sterilized hypodermic and tattoo needles.
The prevention of leprosy rests upon the recognition of bacteriologically positive cases so that they may be isolated and treated. Physiotherapy, reconstructive surgery, and vocational training have assumed great importance in the rehabilitation of individuals with arrested leprosy for return to productive community life.
