Lepers (and leprosy) have been around since biblical times; so has the stigma against them.
For centuries, the disease was
believed to be a curse. Stories abounded about the terrifying symptoms:
skin lesions turn to dying flesh and into fallen limbs.
Yes, that's right. Your leg might just fall off. Eek!
Suddenly, those leper colonies make a lot more sense. In reality, leprosy doesn't actually cause limbs to drop left and right.
The disease, also known as Hansen's disease, is caused by Mycobacterium leprae,
a bacteria that infects the peripheral nerves. Without functioning
nerves to feel pain and temperature, patients can often inadvertently
injure themselves and opportunistic infections can take hold, sometimes
leading to the loss of a finger or toe (hence, the fallen limb rumors).
It's not a highly infectious disease,
but can spread in areas with poor hygiene and close living conditions.
Things changed a lot for lepers in the 1950s with the rise of
antibiotics such as dapsone.
Today, we treat it with a multi-drug
regimen and, though colonies still exist, far fewer people lose life or
limb to the disease.
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