Contents:
- Medical Video: What Happens When You Get Leprosy?
- Overview of leprosy
- How to treat leprosy?
- Only with medicine, can leprosy be completely cured?
- 1. Don't be late for treatment
- 2. Take medication regularly
Medical Video: What Happens When You Get Leprosy?
Symptoms of leprosy which is often seen as phlegm make it difficult for most people to get an early diagnosis. If left unchecked, this skin infection can lead to blindness and disability. Then is it possible for leprosy to be completely cured, even if you are late for treatment?
Overview of leprosy
Leprosy or also known as leprosy or Morbus Hansen disease is a bacterial infection that attacks the skin, nervous system, mucous membranes of the nose, and eyes. The bacteria that causes leprosy is Mycobacterium leprae which takes 6 months to 40 years to develop in the body.
The characteristics of leprosy can appear after the bacteria infects the body of people who have leprosy for two to ten years. Usually, leprosy is characterized by the appearance of white and reddish spots on the skin, accompanied by numbness in the area of infected skin. The surface of the skin also feels dry.
Leprosy is the oldest disease in the world because references to the disease have been written since 600 BC. The oldest civilizations in China, Egypt and India consider leprosy an infectious disease that cannot be cured. In fact, leprosy can be completely cured if you get the right treatment.
How to treat leprosy?
Leprosy can be completely cured by giving an antibiotic combination (MDT /Multi Drugs Therapy) as a treatment step for six months to two years. The combination of drugs usually used in MDT therapy consists of dapsone, rifampicin, clofazamine, lamprene, ofloxacin, and / or minocycline. The doctor will determine the amount, type, and dosage of the drug according to the type of leprosy owned.
The MDT principle is believed to be able to shorten the treatment period, break the chain of leprosy transmission, and prevent defects before treatment. The reason, this variation of antibiotics works to inhibit bacterial growth and kill bacteria that cause leprosy. In addition, these drugs are anti-inflammatory.
Using antibiotics simultaneously at one time is also intended so that the bacteria are not immune to the drugs given so that leprosy will be cured quickly.
Thanks to MDT, the total cases of leprosy in the world in the last 20 years have fallen sharply to 90 percent. Nearly 16 million leprosy patients have fully recovered after undergoing treatment with antibiotics prescribed by doctors.
Only with medicine, can leprosy be completely cured?
Yes. But there are two things that you have to pay attention to so that your condition can improve as before, namely:
1. Don't be late for treatment
The cure rate for leprosy is influenced by the level of leprosy suffered. It is better if you find symptoms that arise from leprosy, immediately go to the doctor.
The risk of leprosy complications can occur depending on how quickly the disease is diagnosed and treated effectively. Some complications that might occur if late leprosy is treated are:
- Permanent nerve damage
- Muscles weaken
- Progressive disability. Examples of loss of eyebrows, defects in the toes, hands and nose
- Amputation
- Kidney failure
2. Take medication regularly
People who have been diagnosed with leprosy will usually be given a combination of antibiotics as a treatment step for six months to two years.
Non-discipline in taking medicine makes the bacteria that causes leprosy become stronger and immune to current and subsequent treatments. As a result, the symptoms you experience can get worse because the bacteria continue to multiply in the body.
Often forgetting or stopping taking medication also risks transmission of leprosy to other people. Not only makes the condition worse, the stronger bacteria can easily move and infect other people's bodies. It could be, the people closest to you get this disease later on if you don't routinely take leprosy medicine.
In addition to prescribing medication, surgery can be done as an advanced therapy to normalize damaged nerve function; improve the body shape of people with disabilities; and restore limb function.
