STATISTICAL STUDY ON LEPROSY ALOPECIA IN THE AISEIEN AND THE KEIAIEN
1937 Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 301-311,7-8
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1937 Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 301-311,7-8
Foreign physicians visiting japanese leprosoria used to say that the alopecia leprosa is peculiar sympton in Japan, not seen in other countries. But Dr. Fumio Hayashi, in his world study tour in 1933, seeing some alopecia leprosa cases in several countries, though not so many and so severe as in Japan, witnessed that it was not peculiar in Japan.
He dared to say that the cold climate would play an important role in causing leprosy alopecia, as the hotter the country is, the smaller the number and the slighter the grade of baldness is.
As the newly opened national leprosorium Keiaien is located far south from the Aiseien, the author compared the alopecia in these two colonies.
1) The percentages of leprotic alopecia are respectively 53.33% in 1050 inmates in the Aiseien and 27.27% in 418 in the Keiaien, and classifying by leprosy types, 66.03% in 845 C cases in the Aiseien and 45.90% in 244 C cases in the Keiaien. Small number of alopecia maculosa is not refered in the later numberes.
2) Classifying alopecia by the grade in four, the severer the grade is, the smaller becomes the number as 1>2>3>4.
As in the Keiaien, each one third of the inmates was admitted from three different parts of southen Japan on different latitudes as the table following, it is noteworthy to compare the number and the grade of alopecia in three groups.
Alopecia and Temperature
It is a remarkable fact that the lower the north latitudes, in other words, the hotter the climates, the smaller becomes the number and the slighter the grade, and it confirms Dr. Hayashi's climate theory in leprosy alopecia.
But it was said that there were few alopecia cases in Norway when leprosy was prevalent there, the difference of temperature maximum and minimum would play a role in this problem.
3) Other data found:
a. The time when most of the cases begin falling hair is the second year since the leprosy outbreak in the Aiseien, and the fourth or fifth year in the Keiaien.
b. Alopecia and fall of the eyebrows begi n in the same time in 33.87% in the Aiseien and 24.11% in the Keiaien, while in 62.0% in the Aiseien and 66.07% in the Keiaien alopecia begins after the begining of the fall of eyebrows.
c. Usually alopecia begins from forehead, specially by female. By male it begins oft from the front part of the ears.
