FW: (LML) Leprosy Eponym: need for a medical name

 

 

Leprosy Mailing List – January 22,  2020

Ref.:  (LML) Leprosy Eponym: need for a medical name

From:  Ajit P, Maharashtra, India

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Dear Pieter, 

 

In recent past, there have been a couple of communications regarding renaming leprosy or Hansen's disease.

 

The suggested alternative mycobacterial neurodermatosis, has the genuine chance of being confused with neurodermatitis. Neurodermatitis, as all dermatologists will know is a group of common skin conditions produced by habitual scratching and rubbing, the prototype being lichen simplex chronicus. Indeed, a Google search of the term neurodermatosis, returns results of neurodermatitis. Webster dictionary even defines neurodermatosis as dermatosis caused by or related to psycho-somatic or neurogenic factors.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/neurodermatosis

 

Regarding the objections raised against Hansen's disease, I would ask, who amongst us is without sin? Do we disregard the contribution of Dr Gerhard Hansen totally? It is true somewhere we draw a line, and hence we avoid Reiter's disease and say reactive arthritis, one of the reasons for which being, Hans Reiter was a Nazi war criminal.

 

And regarding leprosy, the issue is stigma. If we dermatologists ourselves say that the term leprosy should be avoided because of stigma, then in a way we are giving indirect approval to the concept that having leprosy is indeed a stigmatising thing.

 

Dr Ajit

Consultant dermatologist

India

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LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder

LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/

Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com

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