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Sample essay on the origin of syphilis
Sample essay on the origin of syphilis
Sample essay on the origin of syphilis
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Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by Treponema pallidum pallidum. Syphilis can also be passed from mother to infant during pregnancy. Syphilis can cause massive damage to body if left untreated. Known as “the great imitator” because several of the symptoms of syphilis are similar to other diseases, making it hard to pinpoint Syphilis’ origin (what is syphilis). Scientists and other professionals have come up with multiple hypotheses for the suggested origin of syphilis. There are three hypotheses currently being discussed. The first hypothesis states that syphilis was always in the Old World and syphilis probably evolved during the early Paleolithic in Africa or the Near East. According to this hypothesis, syphilis was transported to the New World by Columbus. This hypothesis is known as the “Pre-Columbus” hypothesis. The second hypothesis states syphilis was only in the New World. Syphilis was brought back to the Old World by Columbus and his crew. Columbus and crew returned to Europe, and shortly after, there was an epidemic of syphilis. This hypothesis is known as the “Columbus” hypothesis. The third hypothesis states that syphilis was present in both the Old World and the New World. This hypothesis is known as the “Unitarian” hypothesis. Evidence for these hypotheses have been collected and will be used to decide which hypothesis is more likely true or if more than one hypothesis is needed to explain the origin of syphilis. It is very likely that syphilis, when it was not viral, travelled from the Old World to the New World with Natives of the Americas during the mass migration around 16-14 thousand years ago and later on, the syphilis bacteria became viral. Also, syphilis could have been present in the O...
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...cavation was made of the Natives that lived on Hispaniola during the arrival of Columbus (936). It was found that 6%- 14% of the skeletons found had a periosteal reaction, which was a characteristic of treponemal disease (936). Paleopathologists have demonstrated that marks on skeletons which shows the presence of treponemal diseases (2010). These bone are more than 7000 years old (2010). The marks include periosteal reaction, tibial remodelling (sabre shin formation), and destructive bone “gumma” (2010). Gumma is a soft, non-cancerous bone growth cause by the progression of syphilis (2010,). (2010) do not believe that Scientists have found conclusive evidence of any trepenomal disease being present in Europe. Given these points, syphilis most likely evolved in the New World because the bone evidence shows that trepenomal disease was really common in the New World.
The skeleton had a hideous impact to the community and was predicted by local investigators to be reasonably modern. To get better understanding and avoid confusion, a bone sample was sent to a laboratory in the USA for investigation and analysation using series of scientific
The disease was viewed as a black man’s disease due to its vast spread in the black race community. In this chapter, it is clear that the medical fraternity had formed opinion of the disease even before the start of the experiment. The theme of racial prejudice is brought out clearly in this chapter. The blacks are discriminated from the whites even after learning that syphilis can affect both races alike. The slaves received treatment like their masters just because of economic concerns and not because they were human like their masters. In chapter 3 “Disease Germs Are the Most Democratic Creatures in the World”, the writer points out that the germ theory changed the way syphilis is viewed in the society. It was clear that other emphasis such as sanitation, education and preventative medicine was necessary to combat the disease. The areas inhabited by the blacks were behind in healthcare facilities and service. In this chapter, the theme of unequal distribution of resources is seen. Whereas areas inhabited by the whites had better hospitals and qualified professionals to deal with the
The health care physicians were fully aware of how serious these illnesses appeared. Finally, during World War I, the progressive reformers were able to bypass the Congress in 1918 to create a bill called the Division of Venereal Diseases within the Public Health Service (PHS) (Jones, Bad blood: The Tuskegee syphilis experiment, 1993). As the year progressed, the reformers were preparing to start implementing the study. In 1926, health is seen as inhibiting development and a major health initiative is started. This year, syphilis is seen as a major health problem. Consequently, in 1929, an aggressive treatment approach was initiated with mercury and bismuth that caused severe complications or side effects. As the year progressed, the funds stopped supporting the development projects causing two physicians to follow-up with the untreated men trying to demonstrate a need for treatments (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
In 1932 the United States Public Health Services was responsible for monitoring, identifying, ways to treat sexually transmitted diseases in all US citizens. Public health service was sponsored by Rosenwald Fund; identified Macon County, Alabama had the highest rate of male population infected with the Syphilis. So the Tuskegee Institute was approached to study the effects of untreated syphilis on a black male population for duration of six to nine months and then follow-up with a treatment plan. The research was led by Dr. Taliafero Clark, six hundred Macon County men, 399 with syphilis and 201 who weren’t infected, were enrolled to be part of the study.
Crosby, in his chapter regarding syphilis, addresses the controversy surrounding its origins. One theory that Crosby seems to point out is the notion that syphilis may have existed in pre-Columbian Europe. A piece of evidence that Crosby makes mention of is how “neither syphilis nor anything resembling it is mentioned at all in the documentation of the Columbian voyages written prior to the first epidemic of the pox in Europe.” (Crosby 137) This would seem to suggest that the disease had a somewhat presence in Europe, but Crosby refutes the claim, asserting that undocumented information is not a good enough reason to support this theory. One major theory that Crosby describes is the Unitarian theory, or the theory that syphilis evolved over time. The argumentation for this theory is heavily present in Crosby’s book, as he notes how the disease evolved and spread through the armies of Charles VII of France. Because syphilis is a highly transitive disease through sexual intercourse, the fact that many of Charles’s soldiers, following many battles, “engaged in the usual practice of rape and sack” around the mid-1490s, suggests this type of transformation of the disease. (Crosby
Most people in the U.S. learn STDs in their health class in high school. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that causes sores over private parts or all over the body in a later stage. Syphilis is caused by a bacteria called spirochete. The spirochete cannot survive outside the body. The only way to get the disease is by intimate contact, but catching it is rare. Having more than one partner could increase the chances to catch the disease. The spirochete enters in a break in your skin genitals area or mouth. Once in your body, about three weeks it becomes a sore or have multiple sores. The sore looks like a crater on the surface of the skin. In the first stage it can be treated easily with antibiotics or penicillin. The second stage the syphilis spreads to the rest of the body. It is visible in your hand and soles on your feet. It can cause cardio-vascular disease, mental problems, paralysis, blindness and tumors. Syphilis has links to HIV/AIDS. It also attacks your nervous system. After infection it takes 21 to develop any symptoms for other people it takes from 10 to ninety days. It acts like no other disease known. The last stage is the deadliest if ignored, by the person. The damage obtained by syphilis is irreversible. By practicing safe sex (condoms), or having one sex partner can prevent these
1. Wake County health officials are claiming that social networking apps are partly to blame for the sharp increase in syphilis cases around the area. According to the state Department of Health and Human Services, As of Friday, March 18th, there has been a recorded 1,113 early syphilis infections that were diagnosed in 2014, in the entire state as well as county, which is a 62 percent increase from the previous year, when 688 cases were reported. The article states that Wake County saw a total of 233 reported cases of syphilis last year, marking a 15-year high. A Wake County public health division director by the name of Sue Lynn said that when patients who contracted syphilis were interviewed in Wake County, many said they met their partner
The Columbian exchange was the widespread transfer of various products such as animals, plants, and culture between the Americas and Europe. Though most likely unintentional, the byproduct that had the largest impact from this exchange between the old and new world was communicable diseases. Europeans and other immigrants brought a host of diseases with them to America, which killed as much as ninety percent of the native population. Epidemics ravaged both native and nonnative populations of the new world destroying civilizations. The source of these epidemics were due to low resistance, poor sanitation, and inadequate medical knowledge- “more die of the practitioner than of the natural course of the disease (Duffy).” These diseases of the new world posed a serious
migration throughout all of Europe and even America (Forsyth). Efforts to contain both diseases were entirely unsuccessful. AIDS is now an international problem as was
In 1932, Syphilis, a highly infectious sexually transmitted disease, was widely prevalent in black and white communities in the South. Since Macon County had the highest rate of the infection, Dr. Taliaferro Clark decided that the study of “untreated syphilis in t...
Microbes from Europe introduced new diseases and produced devastating epidemics that swept through the native populations (Nichols 2008). The result from the diseases brought over, such as smallpox, was a demographic catastrophe that killed millions of people, weakened existing societies, and greatly aided the Spanish and Portuguese in their rapid and devastating conquest of the existing American empires (Brinkley 2014). Interaction took place with the arrival of whites and foreigners. The first and perhaps most profound result of this exchange was the imp...
In today’s society the risk of being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease increases each year. Sexually transmitted diseases are affecting more of the younger generation, more people are having unprotected sex and more sex partners. They don’t realize the risk they 're putting themselves in, many people think that getting a sexually transmitted disease will never happen but they 're wrong. Gonorrhea is one a common sexually transmitted diseases that can be found in men and women. When a woman is pregnant and gets diagnosed with gonorrhea, there is a higher chance of the disease getting to the baby. Anybody that is sexually active and has had multiple partners is at risk of being diagnosed with gonorrhea. When you are sexually active
11.) Luger A. The Origin of Syphilis. Clinical and Epidemiologic Considerations on the Columbian Theory. Sex Transm Dis. 1993 Mar-Apr;20(2):110-7.
Jones, D. J., Munro, C. L., & Grap, M. J. (2011). Natural history of dental plaque accumulation
Syphilis is a sexually transmitting infection caused by Treonema pallidum, a gram negative, and anaerobic spirochete bacteria 1. Syphilis is thought to have been brought to Europe by Columbus and his sailors in the 1500’s 1. The disease is characterized by four different stages with varying symptoms depending on the stage that the disease is in1. Often syphilis is presented with another sexually transmitted infection such as chlamydia. Public education regarding safe sex is important for the prevention of this sexually transmitted infection.