Kellersberger Memorial Lecture 1998: Nerve damage in leprosy: A problem for patients, doctors and scientists

There are interesting challenges in leprosy right now. The last fifteen yea rs have seen the world-wide implementation of multidrug therapy with tangib le benefits for patients and doctors. Paradoxically this success has reveal ed how much we still need to understand about leprosy nerve damage. For pat ients it is imperative that nerve damage is detected at an early stage when damage is still reversible. They need effective education to prevent the d evelopment of disability and to minimise the social and economic effects of nerve damage. For doctors and paramedical workers nerve damage needs effec tive treatment. We need to we current treatments effectively and also devel op new treatments. This lecture looks critically at the pathology, detectio n and treatment of nerve damage, reviewing our present knowledge and lookin g to future developments.