The third philosophy regarding about syphilis clarifies that the historian, Alfred Crosby, suggests that syphilis is developed in both hemisphere as Crosby says that the bacterium that causes this particular disease, relates to the phylogenetic family from the related bacteria that cause yaws and several disease. Alfred Crosby has clearly stated, "It is not impossible that the organisms causing ''treponematosis '' arrived from America in the 1490s...and evolved into both venereal and non-venereal syphilis and yaws." Crosby has also suggested that there is absolutely no clear evidence of any related disease to syphilis, which have been present in pre-Colombian Europe, Africa or even Asia. In history, syphilis is also identified as the ‘Great pox’ to discriminate it from smallpox, which also produces wounds or lesions. Syphilis is an infectious disease, however also a word that actually originated from a shepherd name in a Latin poem describing the ravages of this disease. Bue to this poem, in 1530, the word ‘syphilis’, was first used. The term to “Syph”, “Leus” and “Bad Blood” are also related names to syphilis and it is known that ‘Fritz R.Schaudinn’ and ‘Erich Hofmain’ also discovered the relevant cause, ‘Treponema Pallidum’, in 1905.
The cause of syphilis can be explained in different ways, however, the disease, syphilis, produces a painless ulcer on the human body when he or she comes into contact with an infected person, who previously has the following disease. That sore, the ulcer, produces a clear liquid, which contains numerous syphilis bacteria. If this bacterium comes into contact with someone else’s broken skin or a mucous membrane, it is said likely to produce new sores, which basically passes the infection. It is also known that the causes of syphilis can also be transmitted from infected mothers to their newborns, however with routine screening, this transmission has nearly been vanished.
Syphilis, a contagious, infectious and horrifying disease, which is caused or infected by a bacterium called ‘Treponema Pallidum’, has various symptoms and signs connected to any human being, who is considered to have this form of disease. This so-called disease, syphilis, is considered and characterized by four stages, which includes: primary, secondary, latent and tertiary. All of these four stages is known to have its own signs and symptoms of one catching syphilis, or perhaps recognized to catch this contagious disease. It has been identified and researched that once a person, whether he or she, has become infected with syphilis, there is an incubation time between 9 to 90 days before its’ first signs and symptoms starts to react, resulted this disease to appear. Syphilis is a disease that is also hard to tell when this disease has infected a person, however, each four stages have their own characteristic symptoms. The first symptoms stage is the primary stage. In this stage, signs of syphilis will have the effect of sore on the skin called ‘Chancre’, swelling of the lymph nodes in the groin may occur, small painless sore that can be described as a pimple, blister, a flat, wet wart or an open sore. An infected individual doesn’t normally feel ill in the first stage, primary, symptoms, however, syphilis starts to spread throughout the entire body.
From the primary stage symptoms, the disease moves into the secondary sector of syphilis. A few weeks after the chancre or the sore on the skin heals, secondary symptoms start to occur throughout the body. Once the disease starts to react in the secondary symptoms, an individual may start to feel sick or unwell. The effect of an individual becoming sick is caused by common symptoms including headaches, achiness, loss of appetite and also rashes. The colour of the rash that appears on the body is usually reddish-brown, however, not itchy and widespread but also cause lots of pain. Also it is recognised that the rash lesions can vary dramatically. It can be described as flat or raised, they may be scaly, and pustules may occur. Other severe symptom that occurs in the secondary stage includes sores in mouths, nose, and throats and on the folds of skins, lymph nodes swelling and patchy hair loss. These signs and symptoms will disappear without treatment in approximately 3 weeks to 9 months; however, the infectious disease may still be present throughout the body.From the secondary stage, the disease travels to the latent stage, which occurs after the symptoms of the secondary symptoms have vanished away.
The latent stage symptoms are known to last from a few years until 50 years. In this stage there are no symptoms and after two years the infection can cease to be contagious. However, an individual, suffering from this disease, can be diagnosed by a blood test and during the latent stage of syphilis, a pregnant women can transmit syphilis to her newborn.
Finally, the final stage of syphilis is usually called the tertiary stage. It occurs in about one third of those people who are not treated. In this stage, many organs throughout the body can be highly affected and the common symptoms may include high fever, painful, non-healing skin ulcers, bone pain, liver disease and anemia. The tertiary symptoms may also affect the nervous system, which results to the loss of mental functioning and the aorta, which will result the heart disease.
Syphilis has long-term effects that could lead to major problems of a human’s life and health. If a person is left untreated to this disease, secondary syphilis may progress into the tertiary stage, which would result to damage the internal organs of the human body. The effect that would damage the organ are our:
- Brain
- Nerves
- Eyes
- Blood Vessels
- Liver
- Bones
- Joints
- Skins
In extreme cases, syphilis can create:
- Difficulty coordinating muscle movements
- Paralysis
- Numbness
- Gradual blindness
- Mental illness
The treatment of syphilis begins with seeking regular medical care throughout a person’s life, as syphilis is a disease that is considered to be curable and easily treated in its early primary and secondary stages. The most common treatments that is required in order to heal or treat an individual with this infectious disease, syphilis, are mainly penicillin and antibiotics which are often injected into the body of a person. However, it is acknowledged that if a person, suffering from this disease, is in its high stages of symptoms, it is hard to be treated and cure, however, additional high doses of penicillin and antibiotics are required. Also it is known that if an individual is allergic to penicillin or either antibiotics, it is said that he or she could also be treated by antibiotics to take by mouth, however, lesions could be treated but the damage that has already been done can not be treated and is contagious.
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