Treatment: Phase 4 Chemical Cures 1890-1918 Flashcards
Who was Paul Erhlich?
He was a physician that had worked in Koch’s bacteriology lab. He reasoned that he could not only stain but attack harmful microbes if he could find a chemical to attach and kill the germ.
He called these chemicals magic bullets
Who was Emil Behring?
He was a pioneer in the field of immunology.
In 1889 he discovered that it was possible to neutralise bacterial toxins using antitoxins
His work resulted in the development of blood serums against diphtheria and tetanus and modern methods of immunisation have eradicated diphtheria almost worldwide.
What did the first Magic Bullet cure?
Syphilis
Explain the discovery of Salvarson 606 (the First Magic Bullet)
Ehrlich opened a research institute to find the Magic Bullet
He wanted to kill specific germs but not harm anything else in the body.
In 1905 - they tested over 600 chemical compounds
In 1909 - Hata joined the team. Retested discarded chemicals and found the 606th worked.
In 1911 - First tested on humans
Ehrlich and other scientists proposed that researchers should develop specific drugs to target specific germs killing the cause of the disease rather than the symptoms
Who was Marie Curie?
- Born in Warsaw, Poland
- Went to Sorbonne University in Paris
- Worked on radiation and discovered radium and polonium
Marie Curies’ research
- Began pioneering work into invisible rays given off by uranium inspired by Professor Henri Becquerel
- Marie noticed samples of pitchblende were a great deal more radioactive than pure uranium
- They set about finding the unknown element that was causing the radioactivity and extracted a black powder 330x more radioactive than uranium.
- They called it polonium
- They found that the liquid after extracting polonium
- In 1898, the Curies named this radium but it was only officially isolated in 1902.
What illnesses and diseases were common in WWI?
Shell-shock - a form of PTSD
Trench foot - painful swelling of the feet. If gangrene developed the only cure was amputation
Trench fever - flu like symptoms caused by contact with lice
Dysentry - stomach pains, diarrhoea and vomiting caused by infected food, water and people.
How did blood transfusions develop during WWI?
At the beginning of the war nurses only had salt water to clean wounds.
Soldiers did not realise that open wounds were more likely to get infected.
Blood was first stored successfully during WWI
It prevented a great many deaths.
What were the limitations to chemical cures?
Government funding was not forthcoming - it was hard for chemical cures to be mass produced.
Salvarson 606 was only effective against syphilis
Many doctors denounced Salvarson 606
People were less likely to take Marie Curie’s work seriously because she was a woman and her work was highly dangerous
