Diseases come and go, but some stay longer than others. And beyond that, some even lay dormant in your body for years, even decades, before they strike. The following list are some of those diseases you should be aware of:
HPV
Human papillomavirus, also known as HPV, is a virus that can cause skin or mucous membrane growths (warts). Some warts can occur on the skin, the genitals, or cause some forms of cancer.
Most cases of HPV clear within 1 to 2 years as the immune system fights off and eliminates the virus from the body. After that, the virus disappears and it can’t be transmitted to other people. In extreme cases, HPV may lay dormant in the body for many years or even decades.
HPV is estimated to infect 75% of all men and women. The virus infects the top layer of skin after direct or indirect contact with the virus and remains present in your system.
There are over 120 varieties of HPV, and they are classified into “low-risk”- those that cause common and genital warts, and ‘high-risk”-those that can cause certain cervical, anal, and even head and neck cancers.
In most cases, your body does have the ability to fight the virus since most infections are self-limiting, asymptomatic, or unrecognized, and can disappear in as little as two years. However, the infection does not go away on its own in some people, leading to other health problems.
Infection of HPV in the genitals can lead to cervical cancer, vaginal cancer, or penile cancer. If you are a woman above the age of 25, talk to your doctor about getting HPV testing with your pap smear.
Leprosy
Leprosy was one of the most feared diseases in the world. People who had it were sequestered from the rest of society in leper colonies. The disease was so common and the colonies so populous that colonies had their own crafts and even their own internal currency. Which didn’t mean anyone wanted to live there. The tenants of leper colonies were shunned, and people would take mercury in an attempt to drive the disease out of their bodies. This didn’t work — and to a certain extent, shunning didn’t work, since leprosy can reside in a body for anywhere from a few weeks to twenty years before any symptoms show up.
According to the National Institutes of Health, this is because, leprosy is caused by a bacterium that, in the case of many people, can be fought off by a healthy immune system. Even when you can’t fight it off, the bacterium is killed off by overly high temperatures. This is why leprosy is common in armadillos, which have a low body temperature — and why it first appears on the extremities and the nose in humans.
As the bacteria spreads and compromises your circulation, it slowly works its way inwards. Essentially, leprosy allows people to have a long, symptom-free existence because it needs an opportunity to work. Today, a combination of drugs can cure it quickly and easily. Although great strides have been made towards ending leprosy, there are still colonies in many countries.
Prion Diseases
Diseases caused by prions, known as a group as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or TSEs, are another set of diseases that can lie dormant for decades before striking. There are examples of this