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Leprosy.It seems to be generally agreed that the disease known as leprosy today is the same as the leprosy of the Scriptures. Yet it is probable that the term leprosy, as used in the Bible, included several distinct diseases of the skin. Thus several individuals are described as being " as white as snow;" since this appearance is not presented by leprosy, but is a frequent occurrence in psoriasis (" dry tetter") it seems probable that the latter affection was designated. The disease now known as leprosy has certainly been in existence and has been recognized as such since 1500 B. C. The first accounts that we have of it indicate that it originated in Egypt. In Persia the disease was known in the sixth century B. C. ; it seems to have appeared first in Greece and Italy in the first century B. C. From these countries it spread over the greater part of Europe; for a long while - several centuries - it was quite common in the Italian Peninsula ; it seems to have migrated with the Romans to Spain, where it flourished for hundreds of years, and can indeed be found at the present time. In the fifth century of the Christian era leprosy was a common disease in Germany, Switzerland and Flanders. In the twelfth century the disease was a familiar one in England, Scotland and Ireland. In most of the countries named leprosy gradually disappeared, so that it is now a comparatively rare disease, except in Spain ; but in Sweden and Norway, w7here it seems to have made its appearance later than in other European countries, there is still a considerable number of cases. It is supposed that the Crusaders were the agents in bringing back a considerable stock of the disease from Palestine. At the present day leprosy is common in certain parts of South America-Uruguay, and Guiana for example - in Mexico, especially among the Indian races ; in certain other parts of Central America and in Brazil. The disease is also found at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, along the shores of the Red Sea, and at points around almost the entire coast of Africa ; it is found in Abyssinia, in Soudan, at the Cape of Good Hope, in Senegambia, in Morocco and Algiers. In the southern part of Asia the disease is also quite prevalent; the various provinces of the British Empire in the East Indies contain many cases of it; thus within two years two hundred and twelve cases of leprosy were treated in the hospital at Madras. In numerous islands of the Pacific the disease is also at home, notably in the Sandwich Islands ; and it seems to have been transported thence to Australia, where it was unknown until 1848, but is now quite prevalent. Many cases of leprosy are found also in Japan and in China, where hospitals for the reception of sufferers from this disease are constantly full. Cause.-Until quite recently the vast amount of study and research which had been expended in studying the nature and cause of leprosy seemed to have proved fruitless. It was ascertained that certain climates, insufficient and injudicious diet, imperfect sanitary regulations, all contributed to the development of the disease. It was found that leprosy occurred chiefly on the sea coast, and was rare in the interior, especially in mountainous regions ; yet this was true of cold as well as of warm climates. It was assumed that the disease might be contracted from the consumption of stale fish, since it occurred with especial frequency among those whose diet consisted largely of fish. In some regions turtles were held responsible for the occurrence of the disease ; in others the affection was ascribed to the fat of hogs. Yet these were mere assumptions, and have never been supported by facts of observation. It was also ascertained beyond question that there was a decided hereditary tendency to the disease, since it occurred far more frequently in the children of leprous parents than in others. In ancient times leprosy was regarded as highly contagious ; the sufferers from it were distinguished by a particular garb, and were not allowed to come into contact with other people. In some parts of Germany, during the middle ages, leprosy patients wore bells attached to their clothing, so as to warn others of their approach ; they were permitted to go out of their hospitals at night only. They wore black clothing, and a broad white band on the hat; they carried a cane, with which they pointed out objects that they wished to buy, since it was unlawful for them to touch anything that could be used by a healthy person. In other places it was the custom whenever an individual contracted the disease to announce the fact with religious ceremonies ; at the conclusion of this formality, a shovelful of earth was thrown upon his feec as a sign that the person was dead to the church and to the world ; begging was the only occupation permitted to the leprous patient. Haeser states, in his " History of the Epidemic Diseases," that the city of Harlem had the right to grant to healthy people the privilege of wearing the costume of leprosy patients in order that they might carry on the occupation of begging undisturbed. In the last century or two the contagiousness of leprosy has been much doubted, and it seems with reason ; for many cases of the disease have occurred in different parts of the world in perfectly healthy communities, where they have been permitted unrestrained personal freedom, yet so far as known no instance has ever been observed in which the disease has been communicated by such individuals ; whence physicians have been inclined to the belief that leprosy is really not contagious. Such a conclusion neglects the fact, however, that in order that a disease shall be contagious there must not only be something capable of being transmitted from one individual to another, but also an individual capable of receiving such contagious material. It is doubtless true that leprosy is for all practical purposes not con tagious, since people nowadays are not susceptible to this particular contagion. Yet, that the disease can be communicated by contact is abundantly proven by numerous instances which have been observed in recent years in the various countries where the disease is still prevalent. Hansen, for example, reports two cases in Bergen, Norway, in which two nurses employed in the leprosy hospital contracted the disease from patients. Another individual, whose occupation brought him into frequent contact with leprosy patients, acquired the disease ; shortly afterward his wife also became affected. After the husband died, the wife married again, and her second husband became affected with the disease. Milroy reports that a white boy stuck himself with a needle with which a leprous child had previously played, and that the former soon afterward exhibited signs of the disease. Yet that the disease does not always result from contact with afflicted individuals, is shown by such instances as the following : Koebner treated a patient 19 years old, sick with leprosy, whose father remained quite healthy, although he had been married to two women, each suffering from the disease. Symptoms.-For some time, amounting perhaps to months, the oubreak of leprosy is preceded by general debility, emaciation and weakness. The onset of the disease is marked by fever, which lasts usually only two or three weeks. When the fever ceases an eruption appears upon the skin. This eruption takes the form of pimples somewhat resembling warts, though not fissured like the latter. These pimples or tubercles, as they are called, usually appear first on the eyebrows and soon afterwards on the face, the ears and the lower extremities. At first they are scattered, but soon become thickly crowded together, so that the entire surface of the skin, on the face and hands particularly, becomes a mass of little tumors or tubercles. After a time similar tubercles appear in the mucous membrane of the mouth, the throat and the eyes ; they may also spread to the larynx, causing hoarseness, cough and loss of voice. The result of these growths is a most repulsive and loathsome appearance of the face-an appearance which has been described as like that of a lion, though the resemblance does not seem especially striking. Although leprosy is commonly referred to and described as a disease of the skin, it is really a constitutional affection. For it attacks not only the skin and the mucous membranes, but also the internal organs. The nerves, especially in the extremities, are so diseased that the patient after a time loses the sense of touch. The muscles and other tissues, especially those constituting the joints, are gradually eaten away and destroyed. The result of this is that the joints of the fingers and toes dry up and drop off; in fact the patient may lose in time an entire foot or hand. The internal organs, including the brain and the organs of digestion, are also attacked by the disease; and the result is sooner or later necessarily fatal. The duration of the disease is usually several years, rarely more than ten or less than three. In many cases death results from some acute affection-inflammation of the lungs, brain, bowels, or kidneys-which has nothing to do directly with the leprosy. But these leprous patients are found to be unusually susceptible to other diseases. Cases are known in which the patient recovers spontaneously, the tubercles gradually disappearing; in some instances the disease reappears after an interval of several months, and may then lead to a fatal termination. There is a second form of leprosy called anęsthetic leprosy, because the nerves are early affected, and the patient soon loses the sense of touch. In these cases the tubercles of the skin appear in small numbers or not at all. Considerable portions of the skin may become quite devoid of sensibility, so that the individual may be cut or burned in those parts without suffering pain. This form of the disease is less frequent than the other and lasts a longer time ; patients have been known to suffer from twenty to thirty years with this disease before death put an end to their sufferings. Treatment.-Nearly all the remedies known to physicians have been used in the treatment of leprosy ; but none of them are capable of curing or even arresting the disease. At different times various remedies have been vaunted as successful; but further trial has in every case shown the fallacy of this belief. The latest candidate for favor is chaulmoogra oil; it remains to be seen whether this will prove more effectual than other remedies which have been tried and abandoned. In the last few years it has been discovered that the tissues and organs of leprosy patients always contain a certain minute vegetable parasite ; that this organism is found all through the body wherever the tissues are diseased. It has not yet been proven that this parasite causes the disease, though it seems highly probable ; nor it is yet known from what source this plant is derived, nor how it gets into the body. But first, if you want to come back to this web site again, just add it to your bookmarks or favorites now! Then you'll find it easy! Also, please consider sharing our helpful website with your online friends.
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