Mercury as a Cure for Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by a bacterium called Treponema pallidum. It usually starts as painless sores on the genitals, mouth, or anus, but the bacteria can remain in the body for years and potentially cause major health issues. Its existence emerged long before the discovery of penicillin, which is now used to treat and cure syphilis.
In the 1800s and early 1900s, mercury was commonly prescribed in various forms like ointments, injections, pills, douches, and bath additives as a treatment for syphilis and many other venereal diseases.
Mercury is a highly toxic substance that causes terrible side effects such as neuropathies, kidney failure, ulcers, loss of teeth, and mercury poisoning that often results in death. However, mercury became a one-size fits all medicine because many physicians felt that it had to be “doing something as opposed to nothing.” Patients taking mercury as a treatment for their syphilis shared their concerns about the mercury making them feel worse than the disease itself, but they were hardly ever listened to.
In the United States, war time led to a huge increase in the spread of syphilis. During World War I, condoms were never given by the U.S. Army to the soldiers and the soldiers knew if they had any evidence of venereal disease, they would be hospitalized and suspended without pay. Thus, the men often hid their symptoms and suffered in silence during the war. The United States did not provide any effective medical care or prevention methods to soldiers who contracted syphilis during the war time.
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Hochman, Anndee. “19th-Century Doctors Prescribed a Dangerous Douche: Liquid Mercury.” WebMD, WebMD, 13 July 2023, www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/features/mercury-douche.
Holmes, Frederick. Venereal Disease, www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/academics/departments/history-and-philosophy-of-medicine/archives/wwi/essays/medicine/venereal-disease.html#:~:text=One%20hundred%20years%20ago%2C%20before,disease%20in%20quite%20different%20ways.
“Syphilis.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 7 Oct. 2023, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/syphilis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351756