Disease Research Paper In order to have a better understanding on what disease was, I decided that I should first off

define what disease is and then figure out how diseases as a whole affects us in our everyday lives. After doing this, I then would choose a disease that has been common in our world for centuries and use it as the main topic for this paper. But like I said before, I want to build a proper foundation on what disease is and how they affect our world every day; in addition, I seek to discover what role disease plays in our world if any. Every day we are surrounded by microscopic bacteria and viruses that have the potentially to do a lot of damage to our bodies; in addition, we have all experienced the pain and hurt that comes with sickness. All of us have probably have had loved ones who have died, or suffered or is suffering from some kind of disease or sickness. So it is safe to say that we all know about sickness and disease and it is a part of our daily lives. One of the first things I discovered when doing research was that we all have a basic understanding of what disease is. Even young children understand when something is wrong with their bodies. When we are sick or starting to become ill we essentially know that something is not right, and needs to be fixed. So, Human beings have a natural tendency to understand when something is not functioning right within them, so disease can be understood as some reaction to the body that is causing the body to not function in homeostasis. Homeostasis is what our body constantly strives for, and homeostasis can simply be described as the body trying to maintain internal satiability, or the tendency of an organism or cell to regulate its internal conditions, such as the chemical composition of its body fluids, so as to maintain health and functioning, regardless of outside conditions ( Miffin 171). Homeostasis is important to us because it keeps our bodies under control and at balance within itself. So when disease is present in the body it corrupts the bodys ability to maintain homeostasis, and it corrupts the balance within our bodies. Disease fights against our bodies, and causes our bodies to shut down or not function right. It disrupts the balance that our bodies are trying to keep and maintain. Our bodies though have many defense that protect us against many of these different types of diseases, but for the diseases that are able to breech our bodys immune system we have medications that can aid our bodies in fighting off the disease so that our bodies can return to the homeostasis state that in seeks to be at. So we can describe disease as an impairment of any function of a person. The term has come to mean the sum total of perception of impairment by the person (symptoms), the disorder observed by the physician (signs), and the discernible biochemical or cellular changes (pathology). The quality and practical value of the description of disease is much improved if the cause is known, and further improved if there is a well-established and proven means to prevent or to treat the disease (Bloomsbury Guide). This is why it is important to always make sure you are keeping your body in check, remembering to go to the doctor, and in making sure you are staying healthy and caring for your body!

Origins of the Disease I wanted to choose a disease that was old and that has been affecting the people of our world for a long time. I decided to choose leprosy because it is an ancient disease; in addition, we can find records of leprosy in the bible. We can also find early records of Leprosy being recorded in early Egyptian texts around 1500 B.C., and 600 B.C. in Old Hindu Indian Texts. But what I have found more interesting is that there are entire chapters in Leviticus dedicated to how the Israelites handled people who had this disease. He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46). In the biblical book of Leviticus, the disease zaraath or tsaraath (Leprosy) was identified by priests, and its victims cast outside the camp as unclean and uncleansable. They were viewed as both chosen and rejected by God and, consequently, not exiled altogether from the community as were criminals but rather made to live apart (Carmichael). So people who had this disease during the Israelites time were completely cut off from the people around them, and they were treated as outcasts. They were not allowed to go into the camp, and they were forced to live outside the camp in complete isolation. They were cut off and quarantined in order to maintain the disease and for the disease to not spread to anyone else. Lepers were also considered unclean because of their disease, and because they were unclean they were not allowed to go around normal people who were considered clean. In addition, people with leprosy were considered harmful to others because they had the disease. This is why there were so many precautions taken for people who had this disease. People who had this disease were believed to have been cursed by the gods for their sins or disobedience, and this curse was viewed as being hereditary passed on from generation to generation. Even later on into the 17th and 18th centurys people with this disease were considered cursed by god for having this disease because we still lacked having the root of this disease. Like I stated before lepers lives were not pleasant and were full of trials, pain, hurt and shame. This disease has caused much harm to humanity throughout history, but it has always seemed to be a mystery to us until 1873 when Dr. Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen of Norway was the first person to identify the germ that causes leprosy under a microscope. Hansen's discovery of Mycobacterium leprae proved that leprosy was caused by a germ, and was thus not hereditary, from a curse, or from a sin Upon the discovery of the Mycobacterium leprae people soon came to realize that this disease was not a curse from god but rather a disease caused by bacteria, so the soon sought a treatment or cure for this disease. Because he discovered the germ that caused the disease, Leprosy became known as Hansens disease.

Symptoms of the Disease

There are two forms of Leprosy Tuberculoid and Lepromatous each affect the body in different ways. In tuberculoid leprosy, skin lesions (abnormal areas of tissue on the body) initially are flat and red, but later become large, hard, irregular, and swollen, with pale depressed centers. Granulomas (small tissue inflammation) infiltrate the peripheral nerves, which gradually degenerate, producing loss of feeling in the skin, muscle atrophy or the wasting away of the muscle, and contractures permanent shortening of a muscle. Lepromatous leprosy produces large macular (flat), papular (raised), or nodular lesions without sensation on the skin, particularly on the face, hands, knees, and feet. The eyes, mucosa of the upper airway, and testes also are commonly involved. The lesions contain large numbers of infected macrophages (large cells protecting against infection). Infection of peripheral nerves causes loss of sensation and muscle atrophy. No protective antibodies are formed, which bind with bacterial antigens. In all patients with leprosy, loss of sensation leads to inadvertent trauma and skin ulcers; auto amputation may occur. The disease has a slow course and rarely causes death (McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technolog) . Other symptoms of leprosy include Losing sensation in discrete, patchy areas of skin is often the earliest symptom of infection. Lacking adequate innervation, the affected dermis can be damaged without evoking a pain response. Tissue repair is then hindered by poor regulation of local blood supply. Hence, secondary infection and inflammation are common, leading to scarring and callusing of surviving tissues. This process can result in loss of fingers, toes, nasal tissue, or other body parts frequently exposed. A bearclaw foot or hand is among the characteristic features of leprosy. Involvement of nasal cartilage and vocal cords common sites for the organisms growth leads to profound facial disfiguration and also to the raspy, honking voice described in historical accounts (Cambridge Historical Dictionary).

Organs and tissues affected The Main organ affected by Leprosy is the dermis or skin of the person who has the leprosy, in addition the muscles usually are affected and in some cases the lungs can be affected. The problem with leprosy is that it can develop anywhere on the skin thus making the infected area directly developing problems. The skin usually becomes covered with lesions which are abnormal areas of tissue on the skin which cover the infected body part of the leper, and the skin usually develops calluses and scars where the leprosy is present. When this happens, the person essentially starts to lose feeling on the infected part of the body. They essentially are not able to feel any-more. In addition to losing feeling muscle atrophy is very common in people who have leprosy. Muscle atrophy is the breaking down or degenerating of muscle tissues in the body. Another symptom that happens in people who have leprosy is contractures permanent shortening of the muscles. This is very painful and usually leads to people to having abnormal hands or feet or complete loss of the hands, toes or the infected part of the body that has leprosy. Amputation is common with people who have this disease. In addition to these symptoms, there are some cases that affect the testicle of men who have leprosy if the testicles become infected. This
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essentially makes the men who have developed leprosy on their testicles become infertile and sterile. In addition the lugs can become infected with people who have leprosy. This causes the person to have problems with their breathing and with their lungs. Blindness can also be a cause from a person who develops leprosy in their eyes. Treatments for the disease Tuberculoid leprosy is treated with multiple drug therapies, such as daily oral dapsone plus one dose of rifampin each month for 6 months. Daily dapsone and clofazimine plus monthly doses of rifampin for 24 months are required to treat lepromatous leprosy. Directly observed therapy is recommended, esp. for the rifampin doses. There is concern that M. leprae is becoming resistant to these drugs. Treatment is complicated in pregnant women and in persons with glucose-6phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme deficiency, because of drug intolerance. Despite effective treatments for many patients, the incidence of leprosy worldwide has not diminished in recent years (Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary). Mortality and survival rates Leprosy is not a completely terminal disease but on average 2500 people die from leprosy each year, like I said early leprosy in not completely terminal therefore the people who develop this disease usually survive it. Numbers of people affected by the disease Approx. 700,000 people are infected each year worldwide; leprosy is endemic in India (the site of 70% of cases) and other tropical countries. It occasionally is reported in the U.S., e.g., in Hawaii, where it was once endemic, and in the Gulf Coast states(Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary).Leprosy, or Hansens disease, has been known for more than 2000 years. It afflicts at least 3 million people worldwide and is most common in developing countries. There are about 200 new cases yearly in the United States. Its epidemiology is not fully understood, but transmission probably takes place by the respiratory route. The bacillus is very slow-growing, and the incubation period is usually 35 years. Less than 5% of any population is susceptible, and these individuals have a deficient cell-mediated immune response specifically to M. leprae, which may be genetic in origin. Epidemics have occurred, but are rare (McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology). Leprosy occurs commonly only in tropical and subtropical regions. At least 1500 million lepers reside mostly in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and South America. Despite cheap, effective medication (dapsone), leprosy continues to spread in rural regions of Africa and South and Southeast Asia. Because lepers are stigmatized socially, leading to loss of employment, alienation from family and community, and ultimately confinement in a leprosarium, they often deny infection or evade treatment as long as possible, thus ensuring transmission of the disease to others. Leprosy passes between individuals only with sustained exposure, but the disease

continues to spread even in areas with Western medicine, because of the high social costs of early identification and treatment (The Cambridge Historical Dictionary of Disease). New Treatments There are several effective chemotherapeutic agents against M. leprae. Dapsone (diaphenylsulfone, DDS), rifampicin (RFP), clofazimine (CLF, B663), ofloxacin (OFLX), and minocycline (MINO) constitute the backbone of the multidrug therapy (MDT) regimen recommended by WHO. Other chemotherapeutic agents, like Levofloxacin (LVFX), sparfloxacin (SPFX), and clarithromycin (CAM) are also effective against M. leprae [6, 7, 8]. WHO has designed very practical kits containing medication for 28 days, dispensed in blister packs, for both PB and MB leprosy. The blister pack medication kit for SLPB leprosy contains the exact dose for the one-time administration of the three components of the MDT regimen. (Dermatology Online Journal)

Works Cited "Leprosy." McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Credo Reference. Web. 15 April 2013. "leprosy." Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. Philadelphia: F.A.Davis Company, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 15 April 2013.

Leprosy (Hansens Disease)." The Cambridge Historical Dictionary of Disease. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Credo Reference. Web. 17 April 2013. "Disease." Bloomsbury Guide to Human Thought. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd, 1993. Credo Reference. Web. 22 April 2013. Dermatology online journal