Syphilis before antibiotics:

There were no reliable cures for Syphilis prior to the advent of penicillin
in the 1940's.  There were plenty of terrible cures in the 1700's and
1800's that were worse than the disease.  Even up until the 1940's, doctors
used Arsenic and Bismuth as the most reliable treatment...  there were lots
of very dangerous chemical cures used at various times in the 1700 - 1900
period.

Many researchers believe that Beethoven's hearing may have been affected
by the treatments he sought out, rather than the actual Syphilis, because
he didn't have it long enough for the late manifestations to present
themselves with enough power to affect his hearing.  He definitely knew
he had the disease, but he most likely tried to cure himself with the
assistance of doctors and charlatans while he was in the secondary stage.

The problem with syphilis is that it is totally painless.  The disease
kills the nerve endings as it progresses.  There are four manifestations
of the disease: Primary Syphilis, Secondary Syphilis, Late Syphilis, and
Tertiary Syphilis, if I remember my epidemiology correctly.

Primary syphilis presented as a small, painless, wet open sore usually
about have the size of a pencil eraser.  The lymph glands may have swollen,
and the patient may have experienced a fever for a day or two.  After a few
weeks, the primary lesion would go away.

Several weeks later, the patient would present with a rash on the palms of
the hands and feet, perhaps a rash on the chest and back, and in some
people their hair would fall out.  All these symptoms were painless.

Within six months, all primary and secondary manifestations would
disappear.

Because the signs and symptoms of the disease disappeared, the guys cooking
up the cures, would claim success and high fees.  Only years later would
the disease come back to do its real damage...  sometimes as long as 20 or
30 years later.

After about four to eight years, signs of late syphilis would appear.
Again affecting the hair, eyes, lymph glands, etc.

But most patients didn't develop tertiary syphilis with the loss of
hearing, walking problems, vision problems, etc., until as many as 20
years later.

Some researchers believe that Syphilis was different in Beethoven's day,
and that it mutated to its present form.  They also believe that at least
some of the Bubonic Plague that spread through Europe was really mass
outbreaks of Syphilis, and that major damage was done to huge populations.

Ray Bayles <[log in to unmask]>