Dear editor,When I see some body with elephantiasis, I hate living on this earth. It is such a horrible and terrifying disease, which forced me to ask doctors on its causes. I therefore want to share them with some other people who are equally scared of the disease. The word elephantiasis is a vivid and accurate term for the syndrome it describes: the gross (visible) enlargement of the arms, legs, or genitals to elephantoid size. True elephantiasis is the result of a parasitic infection caused by three specific kinds of round worms. The long, threadlike worms block the body’s lymphatic system--a network of channels, lymph nodes, and organs that help maintain proper fluid levels in the body by draining lymph from tissues into the bloodstream. This blockage causes fluids to collect in the tissues, which can lead to great swelling, called “lymphedema.” Limbs can swell so enormously that they resemble an elephant’s foreleg in size, texture, and color. This is the severely disfiguring and disabling condition of elephantiasis. There are a few different causes of elephantiasis, but the agents responsible for most of the elephantiasis in the world are filarial worms: white, slender round worms found in most tropical and subtropical places. They are transmitted by particular kinds (species) of mosquitoes, that is, bloodsucking insects. Infection with these worms is called “lymphatic filariasis” and over a long period of time can cause elephantiasis. The disease appears to be spreading, in spite of decades of research in this area. Surgery can be performed to reduce elephantiasis by removing excess fatty and fibrous tissue, draining the swelled area, and removing the dead worms. KIREHE
