Leprosy

The short answer is: roughly as long as it took the hypokalemia to develop. If someone has very low K and it's been getting lower for months, than her cells have adapted to the change in osmolarity by increasing the intracellular concentration of other molecules. If we give her a bunch of K rapidly than her cells will become hyperosmotic and swell. This can cause significant brain damage since these cells are in a highly confined space. Instead, we give her K very slowly for weeks or months. Likewise if the K loss has been very rapid, we need to replace it rapidly.

no

Yes, but not like they used to. Years ago, before there were medications to treat (and often cure) leprosy, this disease caused its victims endless suffering, and caused society great fear. People used to believe leprosy was a punishment for sin, but actually, it is an infectious disease caused by a slow-growing bacteria. These days, leprosy is called Hansen's Disease, and with early detection and the right medications, it is very treatable. In the west, there are few cases today; but in some third-world countries, there are still places where many people get it. The disease is highly communicable and easy to spread, and these locations often have such problems as poor sanitation, as well as a lack of doctors who could detect the disease early. In impoverished areas in India, the Philippines, and parts of Africa, there are still people with leprosy; often, they are isolated and stigmatized, rather than treated. Untreated leprosy results in contorted and deformed hands and feet, as well as blindness.

It is not certain that if you touch someone with leprosy you will even get it. Though the chances are extremely high, you might not even get it.

If you do end up getting it, though, it will take time for the leprosy to start showing its symptoms. You do not get leprosy immediately.

Patients with MB leprosy are usually treated with all three drugs, while patients with PB leprosy are only given rifampin and dapsone.

Yes, leprosy causes permanent loss of feeling in limbs, leaving the person more vulnerable to accidentally hurting themselves. This can cause permanent damage.

By early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of infected individuals, even a disease as ancient as leprosy can be controlled.

INFOLEP, Leprosy Information Services. Postbus 95005,1090 HA, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Infolep@antenna.nl.

The disorder seems more prevalent among the elderly (especially if systolic blood pressure rises) with chronic diseases (i.e. hypertension and/or diabetes).

Destruction of the nerve endings causes the affected areas to lose sensation.

Yes, its now referred as Hansens Disease and is still found in areas such as India. Cases have been reported in the US - like Texas, Louisiana and hawaii. It can be treated but through a lengthy course of antibiotics and any damaged that was done previous to treatment cannot be reversed. Leprosy is not an epidemic but an endemic.

These two diseases are caused by different infectious organisms and have different symptoms and different modes of transmission. The only real similarity is that they are both serious diseases.

One of the hallmarks of leprosy is the presence of AFB in smears taken from the skin lesions, nasal scrapings, or tissue secretions.

In patients with LL leprosy, the bacilli are easily detected.

no--its illegal

Humans and armadillos are they only mammals known to be affected by leprosy.

Yes, Leprosy and Hansen's disease are the same. However, the leprosy of the Bible evidently is NOT the same as present-day leprosy.

Leprosy is now called Hansen's Disease after Armauer Hansen the Norwegian who discovered the bacterium that caused it (Mycobacterium leprae) in Norway in 1873. In fact, it was the very first bacterium that caused a human disease to be discovered.

That out of the ten lepers only one came back to thank Jesus

he has a nervous breakdown