Father Damien was a Roman Catholic missionary who helped lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai and also died of the disease.
Find information on thousands of medical conditions and prescription drugs.

Leprosy

Leprosy, sometimes known as Hansen's disease, is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, an aerobic, acid fast, rod-shaped mycobacterium. The modern term for the disease is named after the discoverer of the bacterium, Gerhard Armauer Hansen. more...

Home
Diseases
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
Amyotrophic lateral...
Bardet-Biedl syndrome
Labyrinthitis
Lafora disease
Landau-Kleffner syndrome
Langer-Giedion syndrome
Laryngeal papillomatosis
Laryngomalacia
Lassa fever
LCHAD deficiency
Leber optic atrophy
Ledderhose disease
Legg-Calvé-Perthes syndrome
Legionellosis
Legionnaire's disease
Leiomyoma
Leiomyosarcoma
Leishmaniasis
Lemierre's syndrome
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome
Leprechaunism
Leprophobia
Leprosy
Leptospirosis
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
Leukemia
Leukocyte adhesion...
Leukodystrophy
Leukomalacia
Leukoplakia
LGS
Li-Fraumeni syndrome
Lichen planus
Ligyrophobia
Limb-girdle muscular...
Limnophobia
Linonophobia
Lipodystrophy
Lipoid congenital adrenal...
Liposarcoma
Lissencephaly
Lissencephaly syndrome...
Listeriosis
Liticaphobia
Liver cirrhosis
Lobster hand
Locked-In syndrome
Loiasis
Long QT Syndrome
Long QT syndrome type 1
Long QT syndrome type 2
Long QT syndrome type 3
LSA
Lung cancer
Lupus erythematosus
Lyell's syndrome
Lygophobia
Lyme disease
Lymphangioleiomyomatosis
Lymphedema
Lymphoma
Lymphosarcoma
Lysinuric protein...
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Medicines

Sufferers of Hansen's disease have historically been known as lepers, however this term is falling into disuse as a result of the diminishing number of leprosy patients and the pejorative connotations of the term. In fact the term now that is most widely accepted among people and agencies working in the field of leprosy is 'people affected by leprosy'. The terms "leprosy" and "lepers" can also lead to public misunderstanding because the Bible uses these terms in reference to a wide range of skin conditions other than Hansen's disease.

Historically, leprosy was an incurable and disfiguring disease. Lepers were shunned and sequestered in leper colonies. Today, leprosy is easily curable by multidrug antibiotic therapy. The main challenges in the eradication of Hansen's disease is in reaching populations that have not yet received multidrug therapy services, improving detection of the disease, and providing patients with high-quality services and affordable drugs.

Other than humans, the only animals known to be susceptible to leprosy are the armadillo, mangabe monkeys, rabbits, and mice (on their footpads).

History

Hansen's disease has been recognized as a problem since the beginning of recorded history. It has been reported as early as 1350 BC in Egypt. "The oldest recorded disease" or "the oldest known disease" is a title given to this disease , as well as arthritis , gout , anthrax , schistosomiasis , and many other diseases. Lepers have frequently lived on the edge of society, and the disease was believed for a long time to have been caused by a divine (or demonic) curse or punishment. However, in the Middle Ages it was believed that lepers are cursed by humans, but loved by God.

During the Middle Ages, it was believed that leprosy was highly contagious and could be spread by the glance of a leper or an unseen leper standing upwind of healthy people. Nowadays, it is known that leprosy is only weakly contagious.

Minorities like the Navarrese agotes or French cagots were accused of being lepers.

Clinical features

The disease is caused by a mycobacterium which multiplies very slowly and mainly affects the skin, nerves, and mucous membranes. The organism has never been grown in bacteriologic media or cell culture, but has been grown in mouse foot pads and more recently in nine-banded armadillos. It is related to M. tuberculosis, the mycobacterium that causes tuberculosis. The difficulty in culturing the organism appears to be due to the fact that the organism is an obligate intra-cellular parasite that lacks many necessary genes for independent survival. The complex and unique cell wall that makes mycobacterium family difficult to destroy is apparently also the reason for the extremely slow replication rate.

Read more at Wikipedia.org


[List your site here Free!]


The Colony : The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai $13.00 The Pearl Diver : A Novel $3.32
Leper Priest of Moloka'I: The Father Damien Story $6.94 A Disease Apart : Leprosy in the Modern World $14.50
Damien the Leper $0.73 Moloka'i $20.00
The Icd-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Diseases $45.00 Who walk alone: The life of a leper $9.66
Leprosy (Deadly Diseases and Epidemics) $45.73 Leprosy In The Church $9.45

Leprosy
Leprosy is a slowly progressing bacterial infection that affects the skin, peripheral nerves in the hands and feet, and mucous membranes of the nose, throat, ...
Orthopaedic complications of leprosy
Worldwide leprosy remains a common problem with 750 000 new cases being diagnosed each year. About 30% of patients have established nerve damage at the ...
Leprosy mistaken as sarcoidosis in large referral sarcoidosis clinic
INTRODUCTION: Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infection of the skin and peripheral nerves with Mycobacterium leprae. It can be difficult to distinguish ...
Learning from leprosy's nerve damage - Neuroscience - Brief Article
Since ancient times, societies have feared and sometimes cast out people with leprosy, an infectious disease characterized by skin lesions and a gradual ...
Leprosy sufferers demand state apology for fetus specimens
TOKYO, June 8 Kyodo A group of leprosy patients and their supporters have urged the government to apologize for keeping in formalin jars specimens ...
REFILING: Postwar60: Report shows hardships of leprosy patients, families
TOKYO, Feb. 12 Kyodo (EDS: FIXING 15TH GRAPH) Most leprosy patients in Japan did not or could not have children at state-run sanatoriums mainly ...
Postwar60: Report shows hardships of leprosy patients, families
TOKYO, Feb. 12 Kyodo Most leprosy patients in Japan did not or could not have children at state-run sanatoriums mainly because they were required ...
Over 100 specimens of fetuses, babies kept at ex-leprosy sanitariums
TOKYO, Jan. 27 Kyodo More than 100 preserved specimens of fetuses and newborn babies of leprosy patients were found at five state-run sanitariums ...

Home Contact Resources Exchange Links ebay