Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A disease peculiar to the negro race, consisting of the sloughing off of the little toes, unaccompanied by any other disorder of the system.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun medicine A
painful constriction of the base of the fifthtoe , frequently followed byautoamputation , occurringpredominantly inblack Africans and theirdescendants .
Etymologies
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Examples
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The absence of pain or inconvenience in many instances doubtless keeps the number of cases reported few, and again we must take into consideration the fact that the class of persons afflicted with ainhum are seldom brought in contact with medical men.
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Calcutta, Henderson at Bombay, and Warden, Sen, Crawford, and Cooper in other portions of Southern India have all rendered assistance in the investigation of ainhum.
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In ainhum there is, first, simple hypertrophy, then active hyperplasia The papillæ degenerate when deprived of blood supply, and become horny.
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Through the able efforts of Her Majesty's surgeons in India the presence of ainhum has been shown in India, and considerable investigation made as to its etiology, pathologic histology, etc.
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Wise at Dacca, Smyth and Crombie at Calcutta, Henderson at Bombay, and Warden, Sen, Crawford, and Cooper in other portions of Southern India have all rendered assistance in the investigation of ainhum.
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The first cause is the admirable location for a furrow in the digito-plantar fold, and the excellent situation of the furrow for the entrance of sand or other particles to make the irritation constant, thus causing chronic inflammatory changes, which are followed subsequently by the changes peculiar to ainhum.
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The histology of ainhum shows it to be a direct ingrowth of epithelium, with a corresponding depression of surface due to a rapid hyperplasia that pushes down and strangles the papillæ, thus cutting off the blood supply from the epithelial cells, causing them to undergo a horny change.
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Sen reports a case in a supernumerary digit in a child, whose father, a Hindoo, lost a toe by ainhum.
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-- The theories of the causation of ainhum are quite numerous.
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In ainhum the toe will swell in a few days, and a pain, burning or shooting in nature, may be experienced in the foot and leg affected.
vendingmachine commented on the word ainhum
n. A painful constriction of the base of the fifth toe, frequently followed by autoamputation, occurring predominantly in black Africans and their descendants.
ruzuzu: Check out The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia definition. You'll enjoy it, as always.
July 27, 2015
ruzuzu commented on the word ainhum
Thanks, vendingmachine. I've added it to my disturbing-definitions-from-the-century-dictionary. As much as I love the Century (and we all know I do), there are times when it troubles me.
July 29, 2015