Leprosy: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment & Complications

Leprosy is an infectious disease affecting the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes. Leprosy is curable and disability can be prevented if treated early. It occurs by Mycobacterium leprae, an acid-fast, rod-shaped bacillus, and can be treated with multidrug therapy (MDT).

Leprosy can be transmitted through droplets, from the nose and mouth, during close and frequent contact with untreated cases. 

The infection can disorder autonomic nerves that provide penile arterial dilatation and trabecular smooth muscle relaxation, causing low libido. Initially, people with leprosy symptoms like low libido try self-medication (Cenforce 200), worsening their condition.

Leprosy, also called Hanson’s disease, can transmit through close and repeated contact with an infected person’s nose and mouth droplets. Children are at a higher risk of developing leprosy than adults.

What Are The Symptoms Of Leprosy?

The main symptoms of leprosy include:

• Weakness of the muscles
• numbness in the body parts like hands, arms, feet, and legs
• skin lesions

Skin lesions can make your infected part so numb that you may not feel many sensations like touch, temperature, or pain. The bitter truth is, skin lesions don’t heal even after several weeks. Instead, they appear lighter than the normal skin tone. 

The symptoms may vary with the site of infection. For example, if the infection affects the eye, it may cause blindness. Similarly, if the testicles get infected, it may increase the risk of low testosterone levels or infertility.

Depending upon the severity, age, and other factors the doctor may recommend polypharmacy (combination therapy). For example, if a leprosy-infected man has infertility complications, the doctor may prescribe other medicines like Cenforce 200 with leprosy medication. Cenforce 200 contains Sildenafil Citrate, a PDE5 inhibitor group of medicine that directly works on the PDE5 enzyme, resolving the complication. 

Note: This doesn’t mean Cenforce 200 can be used as a frontline treatment for any infertility complications; let the doctor decide. It is because Cenforce 200 also has some limitations, it can be dangerous among heart patients. Similarly, there are other limitations too. You don’t know what effects of Cenforce 200 can be beneficial or harmful for you. So, always consult your doctor before taking Cenforce 200 or any other medicine.

What Causes Leprosy?

The bacterium Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) causes leprosy infection. It isn’t that clear how the infection spreads, but as per the case studies, Mycobacterium leprae can be transmitted through coughs or sneezes(water-air droplets). However, close contact with the infected person is needed for the transmission of infection.

Mycobacterium leprae multiples slowly with an average incubation period of five years, says the WHO. 

How Is Leprosy Diagnosed?

Leprosy can cause skin lesions. Therefore, the doctor will try to examine the inflamed area of infection under close observation. This procedure is called Biopsy; the doctor will take a sample of the inflamed skin for a skin smear test. 

Depending upon the types, diagnosing tests are performed. For example, paucibacillary leprosy doesn’t show the presence of any bacteria in the result, but the bacterias can be detected in the case of multibacillary leprosy.

Therefore, doctors may also recommend a lepromin skin test to detect its type. This procedure involves the injection of inactive leprosy, causing bacteria into the body. Inactive leprosy will cause spots at the site in injection after 3 to 28 days. The appearance of the spots indicates the presence of tuberculoid or borderline tuberculoid leprosy. If a person doesn’t experience any spots, either he is not infected or has lepromatous leprosy.

How is leprosy treated?

Leprosy is curable; in the last 2 decades, 16 million leprosy-infected people have been treated. In 1995, WHO developed a multidrug therapy to cure all types of leprosy for free. There are several antibiotics for treating Mycobacterium leprae, such as:-

• Ofloxacin (Ocuflux)
• Rifampin (Rifadin)
• Dapsone (Aczone)
• Minocycline (Minocin)
• Clofazimine (Lamprene)

Not all antibiotics can be used, depending on the type of leprosy the doctor will prescribe the antibiotics. These antibiotics can be prescribed for a long-term duration; often 6-12 months. However, the duration may increase if the person is severely infected. Therefore, the duration of the treatment depends on the severity of the infection.

Multidrug therapy (MDT) is the most common way of treating leprosy infection. MDT means the person may have to consume different antibiotics as a combination treatment, such as:-

• For paucibacillary leprosy, the doctor may prescribe Dapsone and Rifampicin as combination therapy.
• People infected with Multibacillary leprosy may have to consume Clofazimine along with Dapsone and Rifampin as a combination treatment

Are There Any Complications Of Leprosy?

Delayed diagnosis and treatment of leprosy can result in permanent damage to the muscles, skin, nerves, and other complications, such as:-

• Glaucoma or blindness
• Loss of hair, eyebrows, or eyelashes
• Muscle weakness
• Nerve damage in the arms and legs can be permanent
• Dysfunctioning of hands and feet
• Chronic nasal congestion
• Nose Bleeding or the risk of collapse of the nasal septum
• Iritis
• Kidney failure
• Difficulty in erection
• Infertility

Leaving leprosy untreated can lead to some of the complications mentioned above. Depending on these, the doctor will decide the type of combination treatment. For example, in the case of glaucoma, the doctor may prescribe Careprost containing Bimatoprost, a topical ophthalmic that helps to resolve glaucoma symptoms by lowering pressure inside the eye.

Similarly, leprosy men having difficulty with erection may be asked to consume Cenforce 200 or Cenforce of other strength in a combination treatment. Cenforce 200 contains Sildenafil Citrate so the doctor will prescribe leprosy medicine keeping Sildenfil’s interaction in mind. Cenforce 200 has Sildenafil Citrate, which is FDA approved. So, consult all your complications in detail with the doctor for better treatment.