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In 1509, the young German soldier Ulrich von Hutten contracted an illness unknown at the time while he was in Italy.
The poor man was dying with the symptoms caused by sickness ] That's how it happened 10 years ago
"(whole body) there are similar boils to an acorn.They give off a stink so stinking and stinking that the one who smells it, thinks it's infected, the color of the pustules is dark green, seeing them is worse than feeling the pain that they inflict, even if the sensation resembles to lie on fire. "
Such was the description of his ills by the patient
. In the 1490s, the European population had recovered from the deaths caused by the plague, also known as the Black Death. One in three died of the disease across the continent.
With the increase of the population came prosperity. But not everything was positive.
The war was endemic, famines occurred frequently … and unknown diseases began to appear.
— The Beginning —
In 1495, King Charles VIII invaded Naples trying to claim his right to this kingdom. But the troops began to be infected with a new disease.
No one had seen anything like it. Doctors of the time found no reference in the old medical books
This worried the population as much as HIV when it was discovered in the 80s of the last century.
He had a similarity to that ] Disease : transmitted through sexual contact .
It was syphilis .
People were terrified because they were spreading very fast. He arrived in Scotland, Hungary and Russia.
With the exception of the elderly and children, they all run the risk of catching it. He was in the brothel, but also in the castle.
It is believed that the Kings Francisco I and Henry III of France, as well as the Emperor Charles V, suffered from the disease . Neither the monks nor the clerics would have escaped the contagion.
Hierarchy did not matter. Cardinals, bishops and even popes Alexander VI and Julius II suffered
The rapidity with which he spread revealed much about the sexual habits of society at that time. – History —
The French, of course, called it Neapolitan disease . But the rest referred to her as the French disease. At first, he had no technical name
Finally, a French doctor suggested calling it "venereal disease " because at the time it was considered that his main cause was the act of love, which, in turn, was related to the goddess Venus.
The epidemic caused by syphilis was different from those previously seen: it was not concentrated in a particular area nor was it related to the season of the year. ;year.
Everyone could get sick. And once that has happened, it seems that the person has never recovered. There was nowhere to escape to be saved.
If torture was difficult to bear during the day, the night was worse. Those who suffered cried continuously because of the pain they felt in their bones
— Space Attraction —
What was the cause of the Disease ? It was thought that it was a punishment of God for sins committed by society.
So the first step was to repent and pray for God's protection.
God, however, sent signs through other means Astrologers of the time claimed that the thing happened had relation with two eclipses of sun and the confluence of Saturn and Mars.
"The rains that fell in the year in all countries were so copious, that the Earth was contaminated with stagnant water It was not surprising that disease [19459006Itwaspresented"saidaprofessorofmedicineatthetime
The conjunction of stars contaminated the climate, which in turn caused a poisonous air rot The consequence was the putrefaction of the human body.
— Hope —
It was believed that mercury was the cure for syphilis . It was common to use it to treat skin problems at that time. And that was the treatment that was recommended to the German soldier. Breathe warm mercury gas
But the cure was worse than the disease . The patients salivated uncontrollably, their teeth fell and they lost their reason. However, it has continued to be used for many years, both internally and externally.
Until a new remedy appears in 1517: guayaco, a shrub found in Haiti. Reportedly, that was what natives of the island were using.
Wood shavings were simmering in the water and the liquid was drunk twice a day. The complete treatment consisted of spending 30 days in an extremely hot room to sweat and get rid of the illness
At the same time, a relationship was established between syphilis and divine punishment. a personal and not a collective sin. The person was infected by having been involved in an unlawful sexual relationship .
In this context, it was women who transmitted the disease and tried the poor, in the style of Adam and Eve
Stigma also affects children whose parents suffer from syphilis because it is a hereditary disease. Whole generations considered themselves cursed
— America or Europe? —
The contemporaries thought that it was a new disease .
Once detected it was passed from person to person, it was assumed that it had to come from a
It was believed that it had arrived in Europe with the sailors who had returned from America with Christopher Columbus.
They seemed to have docked in Barcelona Naples and the prostitutes who followed the army took care of the rest.
But American medical historians have never liked this theory, so they presented archeological evidence to prove that syphilis was an ancient disease originating in Europe who had appeared with new virulence.
— Healing —
It is unclear whether the debate can be resolved. But there is certainty about certain aspects. The decades before and after 1500 were great changes in European society.
Urban life, changes and search for places to live, new war techniques and changes in sexual behavior . The environment of the inhabitants of that time was constantly changing. And this, generally, increases the incidence of diseases . Thus the emergence of new epidemics was probably inevitable
Syphilis arrived and remained, extending, especially in wartime.
The arrival of modern medicine the bacterium that causes the disease was identified in 1905. And in 1910 the first effective treatment was discovered.
But it was only in 1943, with the discovery of penicillin, that the cure for the disease was found.
The cries of the night have stopped.
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