Pathogenesis and Treatment of Chronic Symptoms with Emphasis on Chyluria and Elephantiasis

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Elephantiasis is a condition in which a limb or other part of the body becomes grossly enlarged due to obstruction of the lymphatic system, typically by the nematode parasites that cause Filariasis. Filariasis is a tropical disease caused by the presence of filarial worm, if a person contracts the disease, this one can later develop elephantiasis. Another term of elephantiasis is Lymphatic Filariasis, which is a parasitic disease caused by the African eye worm, a microscopic thread-like worm: thread worms are small, thin and white, they infect the human intestines; more common in children but anyone of any age can be affected by it. This disease is transmitted from host to host by blood-feeding arthropods, mainly black flies and mosquitos. They are various filarial nematodes using humans as their absolute host. Lymphatic Filariasis is cause by the worms Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and Brugia timori. These worms occupy the lymphatic system, including the lymph nodes. In the most severe cases, these worms lead to the disease elephantiasis.

Elephantiasis can also occur in the absence of parasitic infection. This nonparasitic form of elephantiasis is known as “nonfilarial elephantiasis” or “podoconiosis”, and areas of high prevalence have been documented in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia. Podoconoisis is a disease of the lymph vessels of the lower extremities that is caused by chronic exposure to irritant soils. Nonfilarial elephantiasis is thought to be caused by persistent contact with irritant soils: in particular, red clays rich in alkali metals such as sodium and potassium and associated with volcanic activity.

In areas where filariasis is endemic, the most common cause of elephanti...

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...ges to reduce swelling, surgically removing of the infected tissue and giving medications to kill microfilariae circulating in the blood stream.

References

• Elephantiasis. May 16, 2012. Retrieved, from WebMD website:

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/elephantiasis

• Elephantiasis-what is elephantiasis? (2014, January 12). Retrieved from:

http://www.newsmedical.net/health/Elephantiasis-What-is-Elephantiasis.aspx

• Lymphatic filariasis. (March, 2013). Retrieved from:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs102/en/

• Pathogenesis and Treatment of Chronic Symptoms with Emphasis on Chyluria and

Elephantiasis. (March, 2011). Retrieved from:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3153157/

• Podoconiosis: endemic non-filarial elephantiasis. (2009). Retrieved from:

http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/podoconiosis/en/

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