What is Leprosy? How to manage it? What are the precautions to be taken? What are the signs and symptoms? What is the cause of this disease? How to treat it? How can homeopathy help you? All of this answered, in this post and of course our doctors always there to help you. Just fill in your details in the form down below and we will answer all your questions for FREE!
What is Leprosy?
Leprosy is a disease caused by infection with Mycobacterium leprae damaging the skin and central nervous system.
It is a slowly developing progressive disease.
The disease is also termed as Chronic Granulomatous disease. At present, it is most widespread in countries lying both to the north and to the south of the temperate zone and among the less enlightened people of the earth. Leprosy is essentially a chronic disease.
Humans are the primary reservoir of M leprae.
Animal reservoirs of leprosy have been found in 3 species: 9-banded armadillos, chimpanzees, and mangabey monkeys.
What is the incubation period of Leprosy?
The incubation period for leprosy is 6 months to 40 years or longer.
The mean incubation period is 4 years for tuberculoid leprosy and is 10 years for lepromatous leprosy.
How is Leprosy transmitted?
Leprosy is not a highly infectious disease.
The transmission is by aerosol spread from infected nasal secretions to the exposed nasal and oral mucosa.
Leprosy is not generally spread by means of direct contact through intact skin, although close contacts are most vulnerable.
What is the Classification of Leprosy?
Borderline tuberculoid leprosy:
The Lesions are smaller and more numerous with less nerve enlargement.
Tuberculoid leprosy:
The macules are hypopigmented, some are large and become anesthetic, some neural involvement in which nerves become enlarged.
Lepromatous leprosy:
Early lesions are pale macules that are diffuse and symmetric. There is hair loss, due to the involvement of nerve leading to weakness and there is the formation of skin nodules.
Who is prone to get affected with Leprosy?
It occurs in age between 10-14 years and 35-44 years. Leprosy is rare in infants.
The lepromatous leprosy is common in men after puberty, with a male-to-female ratio of 2:1
Leprosy occurs in persons of all races.
What are the causes of Leprosy?
• The spread of disease is from person to person by nasal secretions. Some investigators suggest the infected droplets can infect others by entering breaks in the skin. It is not a highly contagious disease.
• Exposure to the nasal discharge of individuals who remain untreated for years.
• The exposure to respiratory secretions, exposure to insect vectors and infected soil can also lead to transmission.
How to effectively reduce the mortality rate in Leprosy?
Early diagnosis can control the further spread and even cure leprosy.
What are the signs and symptoms of Leprosy?
• Dryness of eyes
• Ulcerations
• Nodules on skin
• Macules on skin
• Numbness in hands, feet
• Loss of sensation of temperature
What is the differential diagnosis of Leprosy?
• Psoriasis
• Sarcoidosis
• Neurofibromatosis
• Leishmaniasis
• Vitiligo
What treatment is advised in cases of Leprosy?
Treatment with standard antibiotic drugs is very effective such as dapsone, rifampicin, and clofazimine.
Majority of new cases were reported in California, New York, and Texas. Early diagnosis and treatment prevent nerve involvement, and without nerve involvement, it remains a skin disease.
What investigations are advised in cases of Leprosy?
• Clinical diagnosis by patches on skin with loss of sensation, skin smears or biopsy material that show acid-fast bacilli with the Ziehl-Neelsen stain or the Fite stain (biopsy) can diagnose multibacillary leprosy,
• CBC testing
• Liver function test
• Creatinine test
What is the complication of Leprosy?
• Progressive disfigurement
• Sensory loss with permanent nerve damage
• Good food and good hygienic surroundings are of the first importance in the treatment of leprosy.
• Strychnine and chaulmoogra-oil are highly recommended by the old school.
What is the commonly indicated homeopathic treatment for Leprosy?
-Arsenicum
-Graphites
-Kali bichromicum
-Lachesis
-Phosphorus
For more information, you can visit WHO and WebMD.
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** The text on this website is sourced from websites like emedicine and/or other verified material by government agencies around the globe along with valuable inputs and additions by our team. The content of this page is proofread and updated by the team of doctors, every once in a while, to provide the most accurate information.
