usmbguest5318
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The Daily Mail reports that a Kenyan man contracted scrotal elephantiasis. Among the consequences, his scrotum/testicals weigh five kilograms, his penis is a meter long, and neither functions sexually.
What is elephantiasis? Well, it's the swelling of a body part to, as the term suggests, elephantine proportions, and it's, ironically though not surprisingly, caused by a microscopic worm. It's transmittable by mosquitoes. It is debilitating and disfiguring.
In 2000, some 120M (yes, million) people had one form or another of the disease.
What is elephantiasis? Well, it's the swelling of a body part to, as the term suggests, elephantine proportions, and it's, ironically though not surprisingly, caused by a microscopic worm. It's transmittable by mosquitoes. It is debilitating and disfiguring.
Elephantiasis is a condition characterized by gross enlargement of an area of the body, especially the limbs. Other areas commonly affected include the external genitals. Elephantiasis is caused by obstruction of the lymphatic system, which results in the accumulation of a fluid called lymph in the affected areas.
Functioning as part of the immune system, the lymphatic system helps to protect the body against infection and disease. It consists of a network of tubular channels (lymph vessels) that drain a thin watery fluid known as lymph from different areas of the body into the bloodstream. Obstruction of these vessels results in the massive swelling and gross enlargement characteristic of elephantiasis.
Functioning as part of the immune system, the lymphatic system helps to protect the body against infection and disease. It consists of a network of tubular channels (lymph vessels) that drain a thin watery fluid known as lymph from different areas of the body into the bloodstream. Obstruction of these vessels results in the massive swelling and gross enlargement characteristic of elephantiasis.
In 2000, some 120M (yes, million) people had one form or another of the disease.
