Provisional Investigations in Search for Leprous Disposition

Abstract

I. Leprosy patients in relation to their sexual difference
1. On the male and female ratio of leprosy patients
a. On Japanese patients
Male and female ratio calculated at the time of national census held on several occasions in the past showed some difference depending on the time of census, but is 237.6 in average. Ratio of the patients hospitalized in leprosaria 50 years ago was 418 males against 100 females, while it is approximately 167at present.
b. On the patients in abroad
According to the informations obtained from literatures, in Okinawa, Korea, Formosa, South-East Asia, South Africa, South and North America etc., though variant depending on the place and the time of examination, male patients were always larger in number than female patients showing a ratio of 150at the lowest and over 300at the highest.
2. Sexual difference in relation to the disease type
According to the investigation on the in-patients of National Leprosarium Tama zensho-en, though the figures are variant to some extent depending on the year examined, 72.1% of male patients and 60.1% of female patients are lepromatous type with a difference of 12% in average. Of female patients, on the contrary, tuberculoid type was 12% higher than males.
3. Sexual difference and the disease course
In the year 1954, there were 56 patients hospitalized in Tamazensho-en for a period longer than 30 years. Their percentage against the total in-patients in 1924, was 1.87 for males and 5.06 for females, namely, the female percentage was 3 times as high as that of males. As for their disease types, contrary to usual findings, tuberculoid type was dominant, 72.7% of female patients being tuberculoid and only 27.3% lepromatous. It can be understood from these findings that females follow a longer disease course with milder symptoms than males.
II. Observations on the leprosy of twins
Similarity of disease type and clinical symptoms between a pair of monozygotic twins are described by showing photographs and pictures of 2 such cases reported by this author and by Miyazaki and Yagi.
III. Observations on the leprosy among relatives
1. Comparison by the difference of sex and diease type of the patients in two different categories of (A) that there are more than 2 patients, and (B) that there is no other patient among relatives. The percentage of lepromatous type among the patients in the category (A) is 81.7, and that in (B) is 71.3 with the difference of 10%. While their sexual ratio is 171 in the former and 270in the latter.
2. On the patients in the category (A)
a. There were 217 cases, namely 434 patients, of 2 patients coming from the same family line, and the rate of lepromatous type was high as 83.4%, and the rate of disease type agreement was also as high as 80.6%.
b. There were 47 cases of 3 patients coming from the same family line, and in 55.3%, namely in 26 cases, all the 3 patients were of lepromatous type.
c. There were 9 cases of 4 patients coming from the same family line, and in 44.4% of them, namely in 4 cases, all the 4 patients were lepromatous type.
There was 1 ts coming from the same family line, and in this case all the 5 patients were lepromatous type.
There were 2 cases, moreover, of 6 patients coming from the same family line, and in these cases too, all the 6 patients were of lepromatous type.
The rate of agreement in disease type among the patients in category (A), therefore, was 78.4%.
3. On parent and child infection
a. There were 8 cases of parent and child infection, and in 4 cases, both the parent and the child were lepromatous type.
b. There were 79 cases (174 patients) of father and child infection, namely,
i, 65 cases of father and a child, of which 50 cases, 76.9%, showed the agreement in disease type;
ii. 12 cases of father and 2 children, of which 8 cases, 66.7%, showed the agreement in disease type, and