Elephantiasis

By:Josh Cataldo
Introduction/Definition of the disorder

Elephantiasis or filariasis is the medical word for this disease.

The body gets swelling, large, and puffy or “elephant like”. The most
part that get infected is the legs, but it can spread anywhere on your
body.
List of possible effects on the body
● Severe swelling
● Blocked lymph ducts
● Massive leg swelling
● Impaired lymphatic drainage
● Thickened skin tissue
● Fibrotic skin tissue
● Brawny skin color
● Skin ulceration
● Pebbly skin appearance
● Verrucous skin appearance
Cause of disorder

The cause of the disorder is that Elephantiasis is caused by

obstruction of the lymph vessels of the lymphatic system.
The infection changes by the legs mostly and what’s
making the legs/body change is a worm that does the
inside job.
Elephantiasis is inherited

Elephantiasis is not sex linked because it’s a disease. Elephantiasis is mostly

located in the leg and genital chromosomes but there’s a possibly that they got
it from a mosquito. Elephantiasis is also dominant.
Disorder being treated

There’s been no vaccine for this disease but

their is a current pill to stop from getting
bigger. There is a treatment in cutting the
skin off during the surgery but it’s a little
dangerous.
How is the disorder is diagnosed

There is some testing going on in the science area but

there’s same results so far. The way to find out if you have
elephantiasis is a sample of their body and if you have it it
will have worms in it. But also there's a pill that doesn’t stop
the infection but it slows it down so it doesn’t continue to
grow.
How many infected and where is mostly
located

It’s mostly located in Africa and males are more commonly

get the infection than females. But the infection is very rare
and uncommon.
Additional information/my thoughts

What I have learned about Elephantiasis it is a rare,

uncommon infection in Africa that’s mostly in males and is
caused by a mosque and worms. But also I would if this is
just the start in a few years I will guest it will get a little bit
most common.
References/Work Cited

"Elephantiasis." NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders). N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May
2017.

"Elephantiasis." NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders). N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May
2017.

"Symptoms of Elephantiasis." Symptoms of Elephantiasis - RightDiagnosis.com. N.p., n.d.

Web. 09 May 2017.

Schmidt, Alex. "Elephantiasis." Prezi.com. N.p., 19 Mar. 2014. Web. 09 May 2017.