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"What is it?"
Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (cue-TAY-knee-us LEASH-ma-NIGH-a-sis) is a parasitic disease spread by the bite of infected sand flies. The Leishmania is a single-celled parasitic protozoan that spends part of its life cycle in the gut of a sand fly and part in the blood and other tissues of a vertebrate.
Leishmania's period of incubation is not certain; sores can appear in the first week or not for months after the initial bite of an infected female sand fly. The sores develop into ulcers often looking somewhat like a volcano, with a raised edge and central crater. The sores can scab or not scab, be painful or not painful, and can cause similar cutaneous lesions to those produced by other diseases such as cutaneous tuberculosis, syphilis, leprosy and skin cancer, among others.
Leishmaniasis is found in parts of over 80 countries. Most of those countries are in the tropics or subtropics, but the settings in which leishmaniasis is found range from rain forests in Central and South America to the deserts of West Asia. For instance, leishmaniasis is present in Iraq and was contracted by a number of the troops involved in the 2003 invasion of that country and its subsequent occupation. The soldiers nicknamed the disease the Baghdad boil.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is the most common form of the disease, causing numerous sores on the body which will self-heal in from several months to a few years, but leave unsightly, even deforming scars. If not treated, the cutaneous disease can also result in mucocutaneous leishmaniasis where skin ulcers spread causing tissue damage to (particularly) nose and mouth.
Two common therapies, both containing antimony—a potentially toxic heavy metal—are: meglumine antimoniate (Glucantim®) and sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam®). (Antimony, Atomic number 51, is a trivalent and pentavalent metalloid element used especially in alloys and semiconductors, but also in medicine as a constituent of some antiprotozoal agents.) It is not understood how this metal acts against the parasite; it may disrupt its energy production or trypanothione metabolism. In many cases the drugs don't work or become progressively ineffective with repeated use—patients are known to have received over a hundred of these shots, yet still exhibit the sores.
(Follow the links above to discover more about Leishmaniasis, Black Salve, etc.)
This picture shows Pascuela administering to a small child's leg, which has multiple sores; she is applying Redmond clay to the wounds on the child's second visit.
DECEMBER 2006: Leishmaniasis Clinics Spread!
(report by TC McVey)
November 29th was our last clinic day in Nuevo Arenosa—Dee trained four people from the area to continue treating leishmaniasis victims there—and some exciting developments took place while we were there. One such event was the day Pascuela rode into town!
You might remember that Pascuela brought her granddaughter to the Cacao clinic for treatment, and was so impressed with the results that she kept coming back for training. It was her goal to aid other leishmaniasis victims in her isolated mountain area.
[click image for larger version]
Well, one day, Pascuela dropped in to the Arenosa clinic...on horseback, a two-to-three hour ride depending on rode conditions. She came for supplies, but also to give us a progress report on her "clinic." It was in a very remote village called Nuevo Paraiso and, by the time of her visit to Arenosa, she had thirty patients! But, and this is the cool part, rather than have those patients come to her, she packed up her supplies, saddled up her horse, and made house calls!
The joy on her face as she related her tale, plus her unadulterated enthusiasm for the treatment and the opportunity to help victims in her village was beyond words. We are all so proud of her; and Pascuela's efforts continue.
The health minister of another village, Tres Hermanas—not quite five kilometers from Nuevo Paraiso, now allows Pascuela to see her patients there every Saturday. Pascuela, however, still makes rounds on her horse to patients unable to make the trip to Tres Hermanas or into Nuevo Paraiso.
During the dry season, Janeth made the long trip to Paraiso to carry supplies, and she also took the first pictures there, as well as helped treat several patients. In the rainy season, however, when the roads to Paraiso are nearly impassable, Pascuela makes arrangements to get her supplies from one of our other clinics.
It's wonderful how locals, once they become aware of the efficacy of black salve, want to get involved and help more of the victims of this prevalent disease.
Here are some of Pascuela's patients, waiting at the Tres Hermanas health clinic.
Website: © 2007 McVey Design
(As of yet, we have no photos from Pascuela's clinic, but they will fill this sidebar once we do.)