Talk:Elephantiasis

If
If i get the chance to research a bit more about this i'll try to add to the article. As for now i haven't got a lot of time and would like to note that it would be nice to know what the victims of Elephantiatis go through. Is it painful (It looks like it!)? Do symptoms appear quickly or is it a sudden inflamation? Specifics like that. i'll see what i can do but if someone else gets a chance at it before me go for it, as i will probably not be able to for a month or so. fjgndy 20:54, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

whatever

Umm it'd be nice to have the epidemiology of Filariasis/elephantitis...

"In 2003 it was suggested that the common antibiotic doxycycline might be effective in treating elephantiasis[1]. The parasites responsible for elephantiasis have a population of symbiotic bacteria, Wolbachia, that live inside the worm. When the symbiotic bacteria are killed by the antibiotic, the worms themselves also die. Clinical trials in June 2005 by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine reported that an 8 week course almost completely eliminated microfilariaemia."

What "worm" is this refering to?

Re: The word filaria means Worm (Filament),the disease is caused by these worms who happen to have friendly (to them) bacteria which help them digest poor us.Kill their bacterium friends and save yourselves. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.184.158.159 (talk) 05:22, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Elephantiasis, not "Elephantitis"
We have a Rdr from 'Elephantitis', but no mention of this term being dominant (see 2 uses by different contributors above on this page) in non-specialist usage. I may not get it right in this first try, but i'm adding language to the lead 'graph. --Jerzy•t 09:55, 23 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Useless comment: I misremember it as "Elephantesiasis." Hooray. -71.28.203.206 (talk) 07:18, 25 March 2008 (UTC) (Not signing in until I feel ready to deal with a project I was working on... last summer....)

This disease is properly termed Elephantiasis http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs102/en/. 72.185.154.32 went through and changed about half of the references to Elephantitis, leaving the other half correct. Whichever we choose, it should probably be consistent throughout the page. Since Elephatiasis is the correct term, and the page is already called that, I undid his edits. Understood that in the vernacular the disease is often referred to as Elephantitis. This should definitely be mentioned in the article, but an encyclopedic description of the disease should probably stick with the correct terminology. Don't you think? Mba123 (talk) 16:50, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Elephantiasis and Cannabis
In the more recent versions, someone has put in a reference to using cannabis and an unhealthy diet as a possible cause. this of course is complete crap and is total vandalism. I'd change it and find out who did it originally, but my paper's tomorrow and I really can't spare the time right now. Someone else wanna do it? Squiggle (talk) 15:36, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Elaphantiasas isnt hereditary
Dont worry if your parents have elephantiasas dont be worried about getting it. Just dont get stung by a certain mosquito. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.226.146.61 (talk) 21:13, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Don't merge
Elephantiasis is a result of lymphatic filariasis, but lymphatic filariasis need not lead to elephantiasis. They are related, but separate and should be discussed on different pages. Certainly eliminate redundancies on the two pages by putting the information on the right page (i.e., don't discuss elephantiasis in depth on the filariasis page), but a merge is not valid here. This has been discussed at least since January on the filariasis page, and so far, there is consensus. If that is the case, then perhaps it is time to remove the suggestion from the top of the page? Mba123 (talk) 17:13, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

non-filarial endemic elephantiasis of the lower legs
Hi, I want to bring to your attention that the word Podoconiosis lead to this article. Here is a little excerpt from another article that explain the difference :

Podoconiosis (non-filarial endemic elephantiasis of the lower legs)

Podoconiosis (''dust in the feet') presents as bilateral asymmetrical swelling of the feet and lower legs. It is seen in susceptible families of bare-footed farmers in well-defined fertile volcanic highland zones of Africa, Central and South America, and Indonesia, and also in the lowlands irrigated by rivers from these highlands. It is due to the absorption of silica particles from the soil, through the feet of someone from a susceptible family. This causes the patient's lymphatics to fibrose, and obstruct, and his femoral nodes to enlarge. This in turn makes his legs and feet swell, and progress through stages which are described as water bag', rubbery', and ''wooden'. Finally, his leg becomes hyperkeratotic, ''mossy', and nodular. Lymph may ooze through his skin, which may be secondarily infected by fungi or bacteria. The disease may progress steadily, or there may be a succession of acute episodes which resolve incompletely. Villagers in endemic areas are often able to recognize the early stages.

Elevation, elastic stockings, and long leather boots help in the earlier stages, but once the ''wooden' stage has developed, the only treatment is surgical. If you see a patient early, persuade him to wear boots or shoes which will minimize further progression. The main preventive measure is wearing fully protective shoes from childhood. Sandals, or shoes with many open spaces on their uppers, may not protect.

source : http://www.meb.uni-bonn.de/dtc/primsurg/docbook/html/x11094.html

Jordiche (talk) 04:16, 3 December 2009 (UTC)


 * And your point is...? Brutal Deluxe (talk)

Not much info about symptoms
there isn't much about symptoms in here, other than the swelling that is, anyone have any information? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.177.16.242 (talk) 17:28, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

Identity of persons in medical images

 * Pictures of persons afflicted with some disease should protect the identity of the subject -- eyes should be covered and preferrably, crop out what is not essential to the description of the disease. For instance, the main picture can simply zone in on the lower limbs; the man with a scrotal inflammation can be cropped too or at least should have the face covered -- let us respect their privacy or their memory. Galyet (talk) 23:38, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

Prognosis
The article describes different potential treatments, but I don't see any explanation of the prognosis. Is antibiotic treatment effective in reversing the symptoms, or just in halting progression of the disease? Can people with the condition ever look normal again? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ubruni (talk • contribs) 23:18, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

List of Doctors
I don't suppose anyone knows of a list of doctors in the US (NYC specifically) that have experience with this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.122.44.171 (talk) 19:40, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

Resulting, Secondary Ailments
I'm no doctor but it seems to me that some mention should be made to a "POSSIBLE" secondary condition resulting from Elephantiasis. When obese people develop folds of flesh, the affected lymph often cannot drain as well (if at all?). FYI various types of tape are being used to reposition the folds of flesh to improve the lymph drainage. Additionally, the reason I found my way to this "talk" page was lack of a prognosis as someone stated above.Path11path (talk) 12:26, 1 July 2013 (UTC)path11path11

Needs to be its own article
While trying to fix the many links to this page, it became clear that "elephantiasis" is used in a much broader way than is allowed in any of the single articles listed here. This should be what it once apparently was: a general article about the overall idea of the enlargement of limbs and other body parts due to disease. Many, many problems can result in this condition, not just the ones with the word "elephantiasis" in their names. - Gorthian (talk) 23:49, 20 May 2014 (UTC)
 * The difficulty with the previous version was that it sort of mixed everything up. Doc James  (talk · contribs · email) (if I write on your page reply on mine) 15:34, 21 May 2014 (UTC)
 * I didn't want the original article restored necessarily--it just needs to be an article. You've made a good stub-start; I hope someone with some medical knowledge (and time) can sort it all out and expand it. Thanks! - Gorthian (talk) 05:42, 22 May 2014 (UTC)
 * I hadn't checked the old version before; now I can see what you mean. I was speaking originally from the viewpoint of a disambiguator--it was simply not possible to fix incoming links by retargeting them to specific articles indicated on the dab page. What became clear to me was that elephantiasis was referred to most often as a symptom, not as a specific disease. The article could be about the symptom, with a short paragraph about each potential cause/disease and a link to the "main article" for that disease. - Gorthian (talk) 06:02, 22 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes sounds reasonable. Doc James  (talk · contribs · email) (if I write on your page reply on mine) 12:52, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

Treatment
How do we set up treatment for this disease? Shendice17 (talk) 17:02, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

Hospitals, and antibodies. Antibiotics, and hydrochloride with juvenile understanding of hygienic practices. Shendice17 (talk) 17:03, 26 February 2019 (UTC)


 * Well, elephantiasis is a feature of multiple discrete conditions/disorders. Hence, treatment is dependent upon the underlying cause. It makes more sense to cover treatments on the seperate articles for the causative conditions individually. Trying to cover/summarise everything in this article would likely result in an incoherent hodgepodge. -J Jay Hodec (talk) 18:14, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

Se also: Lymphatic filariasis
This article should have have wiki-link to "Lymphatic filariasis", or a Se also:" on top of the article; vice versa "Lymphatic filariasis" should wiki-link to this "Elephantiasis"-article, if the previous comments about not merging shall make sense. Even the opening line »Lymphatic filariasis, also known as elephantiasis...« is unlinked to this article.--Per Meistrup (talk) 05:47, 14 January 2020 (UTC)


 * Since the two phrases are often used interchangeably, I think what you propose for this page makes sense. On the other hand, the page Lymphatic filariasis already mentions that "elephantiasis" is commonly used as a synonym in the first sentence of the article, and then goes on to point out that elephantiasis is a prominent symptom. I think that interlinking the articles as you propose would just confuse readers, so I would leave the latter page as is. Perhaps just also add "elephantiasis" to "Other names" in infobox ..?


 * Kind regards, -J Jay Hodec (talk) 07:16, 16 January 2020 (UTC)

Changing Lead Image
I suggest changing the lead image of the article to a clothed picture, as the current nude picture does not demonstrate anything besides the enlarged legs, which can be achieved by any other picture of the legs of a filariasis patient.

The following image is already on Wikipedia and is used in the same article later on, so I suggest using it instead of the current one.

If anyone can change the picture, please do it; I haven't edited Wikipedia articles in several years, so I might need some time to re-learn it.

I.Sharif 20:05, 12 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Hi. What is your specific objection to the image currently used exactly? The current image portrays the disorder more explicitly, apparently also portrays elephantiasis of the breast, was photographed professionally and apparently included in a textbook, and has a more favourable aspect ratio (pictured in portrait, while the one that you suggest is pictured in landscape and would be less appropriate for the infobox (especially on a smaller screen)).


 * Kind regards, -J Jay Hodec (talk) 15:29, 13 June 2020 (UTC)


 * I have to agree that the current image is not a good choice and fits if at all in a cultural depiction section. Ill change it also with professional support/reference. Aspect ratio is an inferior issue. Nsae Comp (talk) 04:26, 2 August 2021 (UTC)