About Leprosy

You probably don't want to read a long medical description of leprosy, so instead here are the answers to the most common questions we get asked about leprosy, some of which you're probably thinking right now.

1. Does leprosy still exist?
2. What causes leprosy?
3. Is leprosy infectious?
4. What happens if you catch it?

It can take a number of years from when someone catches leprosy until they start showing any symptoms. The earliest symptoms are likely to be numb, discoloured patches of skin, or perhaps nodules on the skin. These can often by quite subtle and many people don't come for treatment at this stage which could prevent any permanent nerve damage from occuring.

Left untreated it can result in the loss of feeling and/or movement in the affected areas and therefore to becoming very vulnerable to injury. Everyday tasks become fraught with danger if the ability to distinguish between hot and cold; sharp and blunt; rough and smooth has gone.

Infection sets in and progressively more severe disabilities and disfigurement occur, often irreparably. Some of these can be corrected through surgery or worked around with the support of therapists, and a bit of ingenuity. But feeling, once lost, cannot be restored.

The physical effects of leprosy are not the end though as a significant amount of superstition and prejudice still exists in many parts of the world meaning that many people affected by leprosy experience stigma and mistreatment at the hands of those around them. Still today some people affected by leprosy could lose their family, their home or their job because of this stigma that still attaches itself to leprosy.

Community Based Rehabilitation programmes help those affected to deal with these social consequences of leprosy and to find new ways to live with dignity and hope.

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5. Is leprosy curable?
6. How many people are affected by leprosy?
7. Is there any leprosy in Scotland?