Handbook of medical treatment . ey have no medical training, are oftenunusually proficient in the diagnosis of even incipient casesof the disease. Until very recently the prognosis of leprosy was most dis-couraging. Occasionally a case seemed to recover spontane-ously or was attributed to some treatment. In more recentyears the treatment used in the Philippines has resulted in thecure of at least 10 per cent, of the cases in which it was faith-fully carried out, and under similar conditions the clinicaldisappearance of the disease in at least 25 per cent, of thecases seems a reasonable figure.
Handbook of medical treatment . ey have no medical training, are oftenunusually proficient in the diagnosis of even incipient casesof the disease. Until very recently the prognosis of leprosy was most dis-couraging. Occasionally a case seemed to recover spontane-ously or was attributed to some treatment. In more recentyears the treatment used in the Philippines has resulted in thecure of at least 10 per cent, of the cases in which it was faith-fully carried out, and under similar conditions the clinicaldisappearance of the disease in at least 25 per cent, of thecases seems a reasonable figure. It may he stated that thefaithful use of treatment as recommended zvill arrest the progressof the disease in almost every case. review of the literature shows that practically the entirepharmacopeia has been called into requisition in an attemptto find a cure for the disease. A trial of these various rem-edies shows that none of them appear to be of much valueexcept chaulmoogra oil. Of all the remedies used, chaul-. Fig. 1.—Case of lepros} ina child showing inllltration,especially in cars, lips, andhands. Leprons nodnles inthe left arm. Example oftubercular nodular or hyper-trophic leprosy. Fig. 3.—Typical main en grift in leprosy, LEPROSY. 203 moogra oil alone has stood the test of time. Owing to thenauseating effects of the oil, when given by mouth, it wasnever used extensively. A preparation of the oil in which theemetic principle had been removed was tried, but this appar-ently had no influence on leprosy. Emulsions of differentkinds were prepared. Capsules were coated with varioussubstances so as to permit them to pass through the stomachunaltered, but nausea usually followed all of these efforts. Itwas seldom possible to find a patient who was able to takethe prescribed doses by mouth for a period longer than threemonths. The few who were able to continue usually showedgreat improvement, and occasionally cures were of chaulmoogra oil were
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