Malaria Cures Syphilis
It could be one of the strangest cures we have ever heard, but before the 20th Century, there were no effective treatments for Syphilis. Once Syphilis starts to affect the brain, without treatment it's 100% fatal and for years there was no treatment available. Until someone discovered a rather interesting side effects of Malaria. It actually cured Syphilis.
The prolonged high fevers associated with an outbreak of Malaria raises the body temperature enough that it can kill Treponema pallidum, the spirochaete bacterium which causes Syphilis.
Even though Malaria kills about 5% of the people who are infected, Syphilis kills 100%. With these kinds of odds, Malaria was an acceptable risk compared to slowly going mad and dying from the Great Pox. After all, once Malaria has been contracted, it can be controlled with the use of quinine.
This discovery was championed by Julius Wagner-Jauregg, who won the 1927 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work in this area.
Once penicillin was discovered as an effective treatment and became widely available after World War II, this treatment was considered obsolete and was no longer used.
| « Last | | Main | | Next » |
