Syphilis And Its Effects On Society

Syphilis is spread through contact with a syphilis sore (Syphilis). It has a wide range of side effects, and if left untreated can turn into a serious problem. There are several tests for syphilis, including blood, tissue, and fluid (from syphilis sores) tests. The rapid plasma regain test (RPR test), for example, tests blood or spinal fluid for syphilis antibodies (or T Pallidum antibodies), but because these antibodies are nonspecific to syphilis, this can result in a false positive. The enzyme immunoassay (EIA) test is the second test used to confirm syphilis in someone who tested positive in the RPR test. It also tests for syphilis antibodies. Its treatment has evolved a lot. In the 1940s, it was treated primarily by penicillin, which is most likely what Henrietta Lacks would have used to be treated for this disease if she got proper treatment (Progress). Now, a variety of antibiotics are used to treat syphilis, including penicillin. The dosage is small in the early stages but increased later. Harm done in the third stage cannot be reversed though

In 1932, the Public Health Service (PHS) began a study in the Tuskegee Institute to record the natural history of syphilis in hopes for finding treatment programs for blacks. It was called “Tuskegee study of untreated syphilis in the negro male”. The experiment was conducted on a group of 399 poor and illiterate African American sharecroppers. This disease was not however, revealed to them by the US government. The sharecroppers were told they were going to receive treatment for bad blood. The study that was carried out proved to be one of the most horrifying studies carried out that disregarded the basic ethical principles of conduct, it disregarded human life especially the African American life, blacks were not considered patients but subjects, they were considered as clinical materials instead of sick people. The Tuskegee experiment was identified as “the longest non-therapeutic experiment on human beings in medical history”.

STD’s have been around for a long time, dating back to 1550 B.C. During this time the first recorded form of an STD was found. They were reported to be found in Europe. Gonorrhea and Syphilis are recorded to be the two most common diseases in Europe. Some men on Christopher Columbus’s voyage brought back syphilis with them. Syphilis causes progressive destruction of the brain and spinal cord, leading to mental dysfunction and hallucinations, speech problems and general paresis (G. Burg). The common knowledge of STD’s have been around but have not been able to be treated up until around the late 1700s.

organisms that include viruses and bacteria which are transmitted primarily through sexual intercourse. Modes of transmission also include non-sexual activities such as needles sharing during drug use, blood transfusions and vertical transmission from mother to child. STD surveillance and prevention measures are often geared towards adolescent and young adult populations, thus leaving the older adult population unrecognized and vulnerable.

One of the ongoing debates occurring during this time was the possibility of racial variation in the effects of syphilis. A Public Health Service doctor by the name of Taliaferro Clark suggested that this syphilis study would not fail by studying the effects of syphilis on untreated living subjects. Taliaferro Clark’s suggestion was adopted and a study set in motion.

There are two theories to its nature: that it was brought over through the Columbian Exchange, and that it was present in the Americas before Columbus’ first voyage (123). Some theories state that it existed in the Old World in a mild form, then with the arrival of the Europeans, it mutated into the killer the Native Americans knew it as (126). It seems more likely that the disease existed in the Old World prior to 1493, since there are no records of syphilis on the voyage (137). Another theory presents the idea that syphilis is worldwide, but has different names and forms in different regions (142). Whatever the case, the disease is transmitted sexually, and the Europeans knew it to be an epidemic when the allegiance to marital fidelity crumbled in a society (148). Popular remedies for syphilis were mercury and guaiacum (153). A regular intake of mercury was known to cure syphilis, but the metal itself killed the patient (153). The New World provided another possible cure in the form of guaiacum wood, which made the patient sweat profusely in hopes to literally “sweat” the disease out of their system (152). Syphilis ruthlessly killed thousands of Native Americans during its run, but by the 17th century, it became considered a dangerous, but bearable infection

The study took place in Macon County, Alabama where a large number of African Americans were infected with syphilis. Although the study was aimed at discovering whether blacks react to syphilis in the same way as whites, and determine how long a human being can live with untreated syphilis. Due to the African Americans having lack of education, they suffered tremendously at the hands of doctors from the US Public Health Service. When the study was initiated there were no proven treatments for the disease. So the researchers told African American patients they were being treated for “bad blood.” The treatments for syphilis in the early 1930’s offered more potential harm than benefit for the patient so little harm was done by not treating the men in the study.

“He who knows syphilis, knows medicine” famed early twentieth-century John Hopkins physician Sir William Osler is often quoted as saying (Reverby). The Tuskegee syphilis experiment is one of the worst cases in human history of unethical practices done. Between 1932 and 1972 the U.S. Public Health Service study the natural progression of untreated syphilis in rural African American men in Macon County, Alabama. These men were told that they were receiving free health care from the U.S. government because they had “Bad Blood”. A local term for various illnesses that include syphilis, anemia, and fatigue. The study had six hundred patients in which three hundred and ninety-nine of them previously had the STD. Two hundred and one did not have it at the

Thus firstly, past medical treatments provided and studies for syphilis were largely influenced by social darwinism ideology, common usage of African Americans as test subjects, and present knowledge about syphilis at the time, contributed to this study experiment being performed.

Tuskegee Syphilis Study was originally a program to help improve the health of poor African Americans in the south, but later on, in the program, a dark turn was taken, and it ended up harming African Americans instead of helping. Starting in the 1900s syphilis was a widely spread sexually transmitted disease. In 1905 Fritz Schaudinn and Erich Hoffman discovered the bacteria that causes syphilis and then a year later August Wassermann introduced the first diagnostic blood test to identify syphilis (page 747). Then, in 1911 Paul Ehrlich created salvarsan, and although it could not treat syphilis it could halt the disease and prevent it from being infectious (page 747). Unfortunately, these events lead to the U.S. Public Health Service and Julius Rosenwald Fund creating a program to diagnose and treat syphilis in African Americans down in Mason County, Alabama (page 747).

"Thirty years ago today, the Washington Evening Star newspaper ran this headline on its front page: "Syphilis Patients Died Untreated."

Prior to 1932 information concerning the origin, conception, development, and the complications of untreated syphilis was known to medical science. The one element left to be known about this disease was a cure. By this time, scientist were well aware of the fact that syphilis was a highly contagious disease caused by treponema pallidum, a microscopic organism resembling a corkscrew. The disease may be acquired, meaning passed from person-to-person either during sexual intercourse or mixing of bodily fluids, or congenital meaning obtained through birth. The disease progresses in three stages: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The

According to the CDC, syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that can have long-term irreversible complications if it is left untreated. The symptoms of syphilis is categorized into stages, which are primary, secondary, latent, and late syphilis (CDC). If you are in the late stage of syphilis your body organs are permanently damaged (Syphilis). If syphilis is caught in the earlier stage it is easy to cure (CDC). An antibiotic, such as Penicillin is injected into the muscle. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Injection into the muscle is considered to be the best treatment for the sexually transmitted disease. If there is an allergy to Penicillin then your healthcare provider may prescribe you a different

From a sociological perspective, I do not think that hypothesis, “The rate of progression of Syphilis may differ by race when comparing African American males to Whites” is valid as is. Race is a social construct, however the experiences that which we go through because of race is very real. That leads me to believe the hypothesis could be valuable if it were framed differently. Because of environmental factors, cultural factors, and health disparites, certain races may be at risk for a particular disease than others. I feel that maybe if the hypothesis would have been framed as “The rate of progression of Syphilis may differ by race when comparing African American males who have (certain health problem) to Whites males who have (certain health problem)” it could have been valid. However, these men would have had to receive the same exact treatments and likely be from the same SES.

Although it is easily preventable, over 36,000 cases of syphilis are reported annually in the United States alone (“STD Facts-Syphilis” 2010). Treponema pallidum is the bacterium that causes syphilis. Being one of the most common STDs, syphilis is a bacterial sexually transmitted disease that acts quite differently from the other common STDs because it acts in stages. Fortunately, there are antibiotics to cure syphilis; however, there are not cures for the other health related problems that it causes.