The Three Horrifying Stages of Syphilis

I subscribed as soon as I read Dark Science.

Another interesting factoid about Syphilis: back in the days before Penicillin they used to infect people suffering from late stage Neurosyphilis with Malaria as a cure. The intense fever cycles and highly stimulated immune system would kill off the bacteria and the Malaria could then be taken care of afterwards. While they used relatively mild Malaria strains the method obviously still came with risks, but was better than nothing. If I recall correctly the guys who did it first even got a Nobel prize for it.

The lady at 00:35 is not a victim of syphilis but a lady who died in a fire and her picture was taken as a Memento Mori by her family; I believe that her memory deserves respect even if we don’t know her name. May she Rest in Peace.

Over 40 years ago, I woke with a total body rash. The hospital suggested secondary syphilis and sent me to the nearby special clinic. They immediately spotted that it wasn't. It was decided that it was a severe allergy to the penecillin that I had been prescribed for a very sore throat. Good job the first hospital didn't pump me full of penecillin to cure the syphilis I didn't have.

I had syphilis years ago. I don’t remember having any distinct symptoms, so it went undetected for a couple years. I started having health problems after those years. My joints and body constantly ached. I had lesions all over my legs, and a gumma (tumor) in my right eye. After going to countless drs with no explanation of my symptoms, my dermatologist took a biopsy of a sore on my leg. Not sure how she figured it out, but she ran a test for syphilis and was positive. When I went to the hospital, they did a spinal tap and confirmed that I had neuro-syphilis in my spinal fluid. The dr told me i couldve had organ failure in a matter of weeks. I had to have a PICC line (which is an IV that thread through the arm veins to above the heart) which was connected to antibiotics that would continuously provide medication. I had to wear that for nearly a month. Aside from losing my vision in my right eye, thankfully I made a full recover without any other serious damage.

I remember back when I was in my residency we had an elderly gentleman suffering from cognition issues. Just about everyone wrote him off as having early-stage dementia or Alzheimers. My preceptor astutely ordered an STD screen just as a long shot. The guy was positive for syphilis. He was in his 70's so he probably had the tertiary stage for 30 years. One of many facts ingrained in my head all these years.

I was in an STD clinic once. There was a motivational poster on the wall that said "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade". I said to the bloke next to me, "What are we supposed to do, make crab cakes?"

Fun fact: the grotesque rotting features and unpredictable sometimes violent behaviour of late stage syphilis sufferers have directly inspired the zombie genre of film and fiction.

Would like to point out that with the current rise in antibiotic-resistant syphilis strains, I wouldn't consider it "nothing to worry about," just less of a worry than it was in the past

I work in a rehab profession and had a client with neurosyphilis. By the time he was diagnosed and treated with antibiotics, he had significant brain damage. He appeared to have been infected from his mother in utero, but no one knew as he had been put up for adoption. He was only born in like 1975. I’ll never forget him.

My uncle died from syphilis. We never got to know why he didn't get a therapy. We found out he had syphilis when it was too late to rescue him. It was a nasty death. May he rest in peace.

My best friend somehow got a dose of it & didn’t realize what it was until he developed full-blown tertiary syphilis. That was in the 90’s. He’s been severely disabled ever since.

Having nursed patients with limbs rotting away from the inside due to the latter stages of GPI (General Paralysis of the Insane) I can attest to the devastating effects of Syphilis.

Worth mentioning is congenital syphilis, e.g. syphilis you are born with due to mother being infected. CDC actually says that there is rise of syphilis in the recent years.

I feel great sympathy towards the people who suffered horribly from this disease in our history, and great appreciation to the medical scientists who developed the treatment preventing most people in the future from suffering the same fate.

This reminded me of the Tuskegee experiment :( An institution in 1932 did a study on syphilis. They got a big group of black men I think like 600 and told them they were treating them for “bad blood” but they were actually injecting them with syphilis. They weren’t informed of the experiment but they were told that in exchange for participating in the study they would receive free meals, free medical exams, and burial insurance. Even after they developed a treatment for it, the men who were infected In the studies were not offered any kind of treatment. The people conducting the studies wanted to track the full progression of the disease and so they would study the men until they died and then preform autopsies to gather more information. It’s horrible and unethical.

One of my favorite composers, Franz Schubert, died from syphilis at age 31. Somehow, he managed to compose 1,000 pieces of music. He wrote one of the greatest piano sonatas of all time the month he died from the disease (the B-Flat Major Piano Sonata, D. 960).

Hey imma be real with anyone who sees this, I caught syphilis literally a week before I left for navy bootcamp and thankfully they caught it in such a early state the penicillin shot in the ass hurts and the anxiety of me accidentally passing it on to another person killed me for weeks so please wear protection (thankfully to my knowledge I didn't spread it to anyone and the person I caught it from never informed me at any point in time so definitely watch where you're sticking your stuff at)

Funny story: My neighbour worked at a rural nursing home in Australia. I remember her telling me that whenever any elderly gentleman moved in, if they were WW2 veterans, they'd be tested for STDs. The irony was some of these men where pillers of the community, from some of the most respected families in the district and genuine proper gentleman. But sure enough, a large percentage of them also tested positive for a dose of clap and pox that they pick up during the war.

Back in the 90s everyone admitted to hospitals here in Louisiana had to have a syphilis test. (We we’re in the midst of an epidemic of it)The theory was that we could catch people and treat them while they were admitted and also start the process of contact tracing. My mom said when she had me in the late 60s, they wouldn’t admit her without a chest x-ray so I suppose TB was big then. Lol Fun fact, you also used to have to have a syphilis test to get a marriage license. Same reason I guess, trying to stop a easily transmitted disease.