Socio-medical background of leprosy in the northern India. III. Leprosy and diet

Abstract

The subjects of this study were 529 Hindus and 171 Muslims randomly selected from the leprosy patients who have visited the Leprosy Patients Walfare Society Old Mahapa-lika Building in the suburb of Agra City, U.P. State, India, durning 6 weeks from July to August in 1984 and 1985. They were directly interviewed concerning the place of their residence, disease and hygienic practices. This study is focused on the change of both Hindus and Muslims in their diet style before and after the onset of the disease.Of the 426 Hindu males, 251 were vegetarians at the time of the interview, of whom 74 had converted to the vegetarianism after the onset of disaese. Number of the converted patients are appropriately 17.4 % of the male Hindus and 29.5 % of the Hindu vegeta-rians. In females, the corresponding values were 13.6 % and 21.2 % respectively.Of the 137 male Muslims, only 5.8 % were originally vegetarians, and 10.2 % conver-ted to the vegetarianism after the onset which is estimately 63.6 % of the vegetarians. None of the 34 female Muslims were originally vegetarians, and 6 (17.6 %) converted to the vegetarianism after the onset of the disease.In India, religion exerts a profound influence over all aspects and details in life of both Hindus and Muslims, and there are many religions regulations in their lives respec-tively. Difference in the influence of these two religious on their followers could be ob-served distinctly in the diet. Particularly in Hindus many patients with leprosy converted from a non-vegetarian to a vegetarian diet after the onset of the disease.