Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy, has been stigmatized due to a lack of understanding of the disease. It is caused by a Mycobacterium leprae infection and attacks the nervous system and mucous membranes. Contrary to popular belief, it does not cause limbs to fall off, but patients may lose fingers and toes due to loss of sensation. Hansen’s disease can be treated with antibiotics and is mostly present in the tropics today.
Hansen’s disease is another name for leprosy, a disease that has haunted human civilization for thousands of years. Many people prefer to use the term “Hansen’s disease” to refer to this condition because “leprosy” has many negative associations, many of which are undeserved. Historically, people with Hansen’s disease have been isolated from society in leper hospitals, shunned because people did not understand how the disease was transmitted, and because of a widespread fear of physical disabilities. Because diagnostics was an imperfect science, people with syphilis and a number of other diseases were often isolated along with lepers, thanks to misdiagnoses of leprosy.
Clear evidence of leprosy has been discovered in research dating back to 600 BC and historical records suggest that the disease is much older. It is caused by a Mycobacterium leprae infection. The bacteria colonize the nervous system, especially in the extremities, and the mucous membranes. Classically, distinctive skin lesions known as granulomas appear on the extremities, and the patient often experiences a loss of feeling in the extremities as the bacteria attack the body.
Contrary to popular belief, Hansen’s disease does not cause limbs to fall off. However, people are more prone to damage to their limbs due to loss of sensation, so they may lose fingers and toes to damage and infections that have gone unnoticed. Also, lepers are not typically covered in rotting sores, but if they have skin infections, the infections may not be identified immediately, again due to loss of sensation; Hansen’s disease also impedes the sense of smell by attacking the membranes of the nose, so patients do not recognize odors characteristic of infection and decay.
Hansen’s disease is named after Norwegian researcher Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen, who discovered the bacterium causing the disease in 1873. His discovery reshaped the way people thought about leprosy; previously, people thought the disease was used to punish the wicked and was highly contagious. Subsequent research found that approximately 95% of the population is actually naturally immune to Hansen’s disease, and that prolonged close personal contact with a patient who has an active form of the disease is required to be at risk of developing it.
Two forms of Hansen’s disease are recognized today: tuberculoid, a less severe form, and leprotoma. Both can be treated with the help of antibiotics, although the sooner treatment is given, the better, because Hansen’s disease can cause permanent damage and disability. Hansen’s disease is mostly present in the tropics today, with treatment taking place in the community, rather than in isolated facilities.
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