GC: n
S: WHO – http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs102/en/ (last access: 9 November 2015); CDC – http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lymphaticfilariasis/index.html (last access: 9 November 2015).
N: 1. 1580s, from Greek elephantos, genitive of elephas “elephant” + -iasis “pathological or morbid condition.” It refers to two diseases, one characterized by thickening of a body part (E. Arabum), the other, older meaning is “disease characterized by skin resembling an elephant’s” (E. Græcorum, also called Egyptian leprosy). In Middle English, elephancy (late 14c.).
2. The first recorded cases of elephantiasis date back to before Biblical time. Celsus (30 BC-50 AD) is credited with the first use of the term “elephantiasis” (similar to the hide of elephants) for this condition, which was also known as satyriasis, leontiasis, and sarcocele. Others, including Haley Ben Abbas (930-994) and Avicenna (980-1037), accepted the term elephantiasis and set the tone for its usage during the next thousand years. Another condition associated with elephantiasis is filariasis, which is endemic in India, Southern Asia, Egypt, and Central and South America and had long been suspected as an infectious disease.
3. Lymphema secondary to chronic obstruction of lymphatic vessels, with hypertrophy of the skin and subcutaneous tissues (pachiderma), usally of a lower limb or the scrotum.
4. Lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, is a neglected tropical disease (NTDS). The disease spreads when a mosquito bites a person who has lymphatic filariasis, microscopic worms circulating in the person’s blood enter and infect the mosquito. People get lymphatic filariasis from the bite of an infected mosquito. The microscopic worms pass from the mosquito through the skin, and travel to the lymph vessels. In the lymph vessels they grow into adults. An adult worm lives for about 5–7 years.
5. Cultural Interrelation:
- A Commun mistake is the confusión that exists between Elephantiasis and Proteus Syndrome (or “Elephant man’s” disease). Proteus Symdrome: Proteus syndrome is a rare condition characterized by overgrowth of the bones, skin, and other tissues. Organs and tissues affected by the disease grow out of proportion to the rest of the body.
- The Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine has been split two ways for groundbreaking work on parasitic diseases.The research, by William C Campbell, Satoshi Omura and Youyou Tu, has led to drugs to treat diseases affecting more than 3.4 billion people around the world. One of them, malaria, most people have heard of. But the other two illnesses, onchocerciasis or “river blindness” and lymphatic filariasis or “elephantiasis” – both caused by roundworm parasites – are lesser known.
S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=elephantiasis&searchmode=none (last access: 8 November 2015). 2. ANNCLINLABSCI – http://www.annclinlabsci.org/content/32/2/207.full.pdf (last access: 9 November 2015). 3. DORLAND – https://goo.gl/SGxzUj (last access: 10 November 2015). 4. WHO – http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs102/en/ (last access: 08 November 2015); CDC – http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/ntd/ (last access: 9 November 2015); HEALTH.GOV.FJ – http://www.health.gov.fj/?page_id=2362 (last access: 9 November 2015). 5. CNBI – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3036577/ (last access: 9 November 2015); GHR.NLM.NIH.GOV – http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/proteus-syndrome (last access: 9 November 2015); YOUTUBE – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye4YTZOq2fk (last access: 9 November 2015); BBC – http://www.bbc.com/news/health-34442097 (last access: 11 November 2015).
SYN: lymphatic filariasis
S: CDC – http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lymphaticfilariasis/index.html (last access: 9 November 2015)
CR: Proteus syndrome
