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Dec 10, 2021 · Leprosy is probably one of the oldest infectious diseases ever known in human history. Hansen’s disease has been the scourge of humanity since ancient times. Its spread all over the world followed human paths of migration from the African Continent to the Asian one and to Europe, instead it appeared more recently in the New Continent.
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People tend to think of leprosy as a tropical disease because most cases today are found in less-developed countries, which are mainly in the tropics. This has not always been the case. In 1200 ce an estimated 19,000 leprosy hospitals existed all over Europe. The disease is much older than that, however, and it is believed to have originated on the Indian subcontinent. Indeed, the most ancient evidence of leprosy comes from a 4,000-year-old human skeleton uncovered in India in 2009. The skeleton was found to have erosion patterns similar to those found in skeletons of lepers in Europe dating to the Middle Ages. Thus, there is evidence that leprosy existed in India by 2000 bce, and this coincides with what is suspected to be the first textual reference to leprosy—in an ancient Sanskrit sacred work known as the Atharvaveda.
There are many difficulties in interpreting ancient medical writings, and the descriptive terms used by ancient authors for clinical conditions are often misleading. An illness that fits the description of leprosy almost certainly appears in the Sushruta-samhita, a medical work from India that dates to about 600 bce. A similar ailment is described in a Chinese medical text from 400 bce. Several Greek writers, including Galen (2nd–3rd century ce), described a disease that may have been leprosy, though the Greeks did not apply to this disease the term lepra (“scaly”), from which the modern term leprosy is derived; instead, they referred to it as elephantiasis græcorum. In a similar vein, the “leprosy” referred to in the Bible—both the tzaraath of the Hebrew Bible and the lepra of the Greek New Testament—is not described in a clinically recognizable manner and probably was any of a number of severe chronic skin diseases.
Tradition has it that members of the army of Alexander the Great contracted the illness when they invaded India in the 4th century bce and carried it into the Middle East and then throughout the eastern Mediterranean upon their return home. It is also traditionally believed that Roman soldiers in the army of Pompey took the disease from Egypt to Italy in the 1st century bce and that Roman legionnaires later took the disease as far as the British Isles. On the other hand, genetic analysis of the leprosy bacillus indicates that Mycobacterium leprae may have evolved some 100,000 years ago in eastern Africa or southwestern Asia. From there it seems to have migrated eastward and westward, developing one distinct subtype in Asia and another subtype in Europe and North Africa. Leprosy appears to have been introduced by Europeans or North Africans into western Africa, where the bacillus evolved yet another distinct subtype. The disease was brought to the Americas by European colonists and western African slaves.
Between the 11th and 13th centuries ce, leprosy spread along trade routes in Europe and also in places in the Holy Land occupied by European Crusaders and pilgrims—its most prominent victim being Baldwin IV, the “leper king” of Jerusalem. So acute was the suffering of those infected by leprosy that the disease was thought to be highly contagious. Persons with leprosy not wealthy enough to live at home in isolation were segregated in what came to be called lazarets or leprosaria. Outside these hospices they were feared and ostracized, frequently condemned to wander the roads wearing signs and ringing bells to warn healthy people of their approach. Leprosy came to be referred to as the “living death,” and often its victims were treated as if they had already died. Funeral services were conducted to declare those living with the disease “dead” to society, and relatives were allowed to claim their inheritance. Like many diseases, leprosy was considered to be a form of divine punishment for worldly sins, and the outward signs of the disease were taken as proof that leprosy victims were utterly embroiled in sin. Special laws required the use of separate seats in churches, separate holy-water fonts, and in some cases a “lepers’ window” or slot in the church wall through which the afflicted could view the mass without contaminating the congregation or the ceremony.
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People tend to think of leprosy as a tropical disease because most cases today are found in less-developed countries, which are mainly in the tropics. This has not always been the case. In 1200 ce an estimated 19,000 leprosy hospitals existed all over Europe. The disease is much older than that, however, and it is believed to have originated on the Indian subcontinent. Indeed, the most ancient evidence of leprosy comes from a 4,000-year-old human skeleton uncovered in India in 2009. The skeleton was found to have erosion patterns similar to those found in skeletons of lepers in Europe dating to the Middle Ages. Thus, there is evidence that leprosy existed in India by 2000 bce, and this coincides with what is suspected to be the first textual reference to leprosy—in an ancient Sanskrit sacred work known as the Atharvaveda.
There are many difficulties in interpreting ancient medical writings, and the descriptive terms used by ancient authors for clinical conditions are often misleading. An illness that fits the description of leprosy almost certainly appears in the Sushruta-samhita, a medical work from India that dates to about 600 bce. A similar ailment is described in a Chinese medical text from 400 bce. Several Greek writers, including Galen (2nd–3rd century ce), described a disease that may have been leprosy, though the Greeks did not apply to this disease the term lepra (“scaly”), from which the modern term leprosy is derived; instead, they referred to it as elephantiasis græcorum. In a similar vein, the “leprosy” referred to in the Bible—both the tzaraath of the Hebrew Bible and the lepra of the Greek New Testament—is not described in a clinically recognizable manner and probably was any of a number of severe chronic skin diseases.
Tradition has it that members of the army of Alexander the Great contracted the illness when they invaded India in the 4th century bce and carried it into the Middle East and then throughout the eastern Mediterranean upon their return home. It is also traditionally believed that Roman soldiers in the army of Pompey took the disease from Egypt to Italy in the 1st century bce and that Roman legionnaires later took the disease as far as the British Isles. On the other hand, genetic analysis of the leprosy bacillus indicates that Mycobacterium leprae may have evolved some 100,000 years ago in eastern Africa or southwestern Asia. From there it seems to have migrated eastward and westward, developing one distinct subtype in Asia and another subtype in Europe and North Africa. Leprosy appears to have been introduced by Europeans or North Africans into western Africa, where the bacillus evolved yet another distinct subtype. The disease was brought to the Americas by European colonists and western African slaves.
Between the 11th and 13th centuries ce, leprosy spread along trade routes in Europe and also in places in the Holy Land occupied by European Crusaders and pilgrims—its most prominent victim being Baldwin IV, the “leper king” of Jerusalem. So acute was the suffering of those infected by leprosy that the disease was thought to be highly contagious. Persons with leprosy not wealthy enough to live at home in isolation were segregated in what came to be called lazarets or leprosaria. Outside these hospices they were feared and ostracized, frequently condemned to wander the roads wearing signs and ringing bells to warn healthy people of their approach. Leprosy came to be referred to as the “living death,” and often its victims were treated as if they had already died. Funeral services were conducted to declare those living with the disease “dead” to society, and relatives were allowed to claim their inheritance. Like many diseases, leprosy was considered to be a form of divine punishment for worldly sins, and the outward signs of the disease were taken as proof that leprosy victims were utterly embroiled in sin. Special laws required the use of separate seats in churches, separate holy-water fonts, and in some cases a “lepers’ window” or slot in the church wall through which the afflicted could view the mass without contaminating the congregation or the ceremony.
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The history of leprosy was traced to its origins by an international team of 22 geneticists using comparative genomics of the worldwide distribution of Mycobacterium leprae. [1] Monot et al. (2005) determined that leprosy originated in East Africa or the Near East and traveled with humans along their migration routes, including those of trade ...
Apr 17, 2024 · leprosy, chronic infectious disease that affects the skin, the peripheral nerves (nerves outside the brain and spinal cord ), and the mucous membranes of the nose, throat, and eyes. It is caused by the leprosy bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae. Destruction of the peripheral nerves by the bacillus leads to a loss of sensation, which, together with ...
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Jul 31, 2022 · The history of leprosy and its sufferers is complex and sometimes ambiguous. The disease is mentioned in several passages of the Bible. It affected people in Europe in the Middle Ages, when numerous leprosy hospitals were founded, but declined across most of the continent from the 16th century, though it continues to occur in Africa, Asia and South America.
Jan 27, 2023 · Leprosy is an age-old disease and is described in the literature of ancient civilizations. It is a chronic infectious disease which is caused by a type of bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae. The disease affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes. Leprosy is curable and treatment in the early ...
