The HORRIFYING History of Leprosy

of all the diseases that have plagued humanity very few carry such a heavy
stigma as leprosy, even the word conjures images of the untouchable the unclean and those who lose body parts though. In reality it is a very different disease it is an illness that is perhaps not widely understood yet is widely known about with myths and prejudice clouding what the disease truly means.

For those who are affected whilst you may believe that the disease
is from a bygone medieval age it still affects around 200 000 people per year. In today's BLOG we will cover the history of leprosy how we have sought to combat the disease and how we have treated those who were affected by such a horrendous illness.

leprosy also known as hansen's disease is an infectious illness that primarily affects a person's skin and the peripheral nervous system it is caused by the bacteria mycobacterium leprey it cannot be spread by casual contact such as shaking hands or merely sitting near

an infected person nor can it be spread via sexual contact or spread in the uterus leprosy is mainly spread via airborne droplets often through coughing or sneezing by someone who is affected by the disease

infection rates will vary depending on the health of those exposed leprosy will tend to only infect those with a poor immune system those who are malnourished and those who live in poor conditions what's more around 95 percent of people are naturally immune to leprosy meaning the disease will never affect most people even when infected the disease is so slow to reproduce that

it can take years for symptoms to come to light it is important to note that whilst we have some idea as to how the disease spreads we are still not 100 certain this is because the disease is difficult to grow outside of a living body making it very difficult to study it is important to start with the myth that leprosy can cause the loss of limbs toes or fingers or that flesh will simply fall away from the body this is not the case leprosy is not a flesh-eating bacterium that will devour a person's body rather the infection damages the skin and nervous system which will often result in a person losing all sensation in the hands and feet often cuts and damage to the extremities will go unnoticed leading to infections that if untreated will cause damage the digits on a person's hand can

however be reabsorbed by the body giving the impression they have fallen off corneal ulcers or blindness can also occur if facial nerves are affected due to loss of sensation of the eye leprosy often results in lesions on the skin other signs of advanced leprosy can also include the loss of eyebrows and nose deformity from damage to the nasal septum in men their testicles can also be damaged resulting in infertility leprosy is perhaps one of the oldest illnesses that has affected humanity

there is evidence that leprosy wasactive in the indian subcontinent as early as 2000 bce leprosy was identified as a disease as early as 600 bce both by indian and chinese doctors it is thought that one of the first vectors for the disease to spread were the armies of alexander the great from his invasion of india in the 4th century bce from there it was spread to north africa before being picked up by the roman empire as the disease was not widely understood many ill-devised treatments were developed to deal with leprosy

one such treatment involved bathing in the blood of lambs children are virgins as a form of purification ritual as it was believed that the disease was a punishment from god for some sin other doctors attempted the use of venoms and poisons to kill the infection but by far the most horrific solution to leprosy patients was the implementation of leper colonies at this point it is perhaps important to note that the term leper is no longer the accepted term for

a person suffering with leprosy due to the treatment and practices of the leper colonies such colonies became widespread during the middle ages and were used to contain and quarantine leprosy patients as well as others suffering from a variety of other skin conditions these colonies would be built in isolated areas away from the rest of the populations and were often run by the church the goal of the colony would be to separate the affected from the healthy as a means to stop the spread of the disease

leprosy patients would be made to wear clothing that marked them as lepers and would be made to carry a bell to warn others of their proximity many leper or lazar houses were established in england between the 11th and 14th centuries

often the patients would beg for food and money in exchange for praying for those who would donate to the religious orders the stigma of those shunned by the community combined with the misconceptions about the disease

resulted in the use of such colonies

until very recently one notable example is kalu papa a small hawaiian island that was designated as a leper colony following the enactment of a law that marked patients as little more than criminals despite being enacted in the 1960s the state of hawaii did not repeal the law until

1969. even to this day the island has not been developed with those who remain on the island who are well into their 70s and 80s left unable to reintegrate into society not all that suffered from leprosy would be outcast one of the most famous leprosy patients was king baldwin iv of jerusalem as a child it was clear that he had contracted the illness though was not formally diagnosed as to avoid the stigma as the only son his assession was tolerated by the ruling elites despite having no feeling in his right arm baldwin was able to lead his armies against saladin and his saracen forces successfully defeating them in five engagements and taking part in the fighting himself in today's world we now have access to medications and treatment

for leprosy though it is vital that such intervention happens as soon as possible the tell-tale sign of numbness or loss of feeling ought to be referred to a doctor as soon as possible it is then the case of taking a number of antibiotic drugs together in what is known as a multi-drug treatment to deal

with the bacteria it is when the illness is left untreated that major damage can be inflicted the disease is most commonly found in india brazil and indonesia with more than half of all new cases of leprosy being diagnosed in india very often the stigma of the disease results in people particularly women and girls not wishing to disclose their symptoms for fear of being shunned as a result the disease will go untreated and progress to a stage that is debilitating whilst the indian government has developed and distributes a vaccine it does not offer a full level of protection the world health

organization is working to reduce the impact and spread of leprosy with the two key components being to combat this stigma and ensure the early treatment early detection and the treatment will result in fewer people

developing more debilitating symptoms in stopping the stigma associated with leprosy more and more people will be willing to seek help which will go hand in hand with early detection whilst we have come a long way from leper colonies and not understanding the illness there is still more work to be done

there is no doubt that plenty of you would have held misconceptions about the disease but it is through better understanding that we can look to remove the stigma which will set us on the right path to eliminating the disease

the stigma of leprosy has undoubtedly caused a great deal of unnecessary suffering and whilst it can be somewhat understood when we had little to no idea about the disease we have today a much better understanding

i would invite you all to look further into the work that has been done to rid the world of the disease and the consequences of shaming those affected..