Death by Syphilis
A Case Study: George F Hopf (1880-1960)
Congenital syphilis is the root cause of many diseases in human beings today. Genome research may be a path to the diagnosis and prevention of multiple diseases.
My grandfather had syphilis, as did many other grandfathers and great-grandfathers a century ago. It was a pandemic for several hundred years. Most of us don't know about it. It was considered terribly shameful and families kept it a secret at any cost. Medical records were rewritten to disguise the true diagnosis because of the stigma associated with the diagnosis.
in the process of tracing my family history, I was able to get my grandfather's military records from Ottawa, Canada where he served as a medic in 1915 in France for the Canadian Army during World War 1. They recorded his military service in detail including lab tests and treatments.
He complained of pain in his legs and hips and was hospitalized. His laboratory blood tests revealed a Wasserman of 3. A clear indication of syphilis. He was 38 and he got it when he was 18. By now he had had it for about 20 years and it was in the secondary or latent stage. He was treated unsuccessfully with Salverson 600, a lethal intravenous injection cocktail of arsenic and mercury, given every day for 7 days.
The results were unremarkable with no change in his Wassermann test and he was given a medical discharge disease and sent back to Canada with instruction to repeat the treatment in Calgary, he didn't repeat it.
Syphilis is an insidious disease that can affect any and all systems or structures in the body. Medical students are instructed, "To know syphilis is to know medicine."
I believe when a person is infected by syphilis and in procreation, it causes a genetic mutation in future generations. My grandmother who he infected, died at 55 from uterine cancer, the youngest in her large family to die so young. She had two sons after she was infected. His son, my father had a bipolar disease and was so tormented that he committed suicide at age 44. My youngest brother killed himself at the same age.
She had another son with a different man. This son too had mental problems and died in his 30s. Both of her sons had a classical symptom of congenital syphilis, soft teeth. Both had dentures as teenagers.
I am the oldest of five. We each have medical problems that I blame on second-generation mutations from syphilis, my grandfather was diagnosed with Myalgia in his discharge documents. I have the modern version, now called restless leg syndrome. I have nieces and nephews with the same affliction.
Some current research shows is a neurological condition, but we don't yet know what causes it. Some cases may have a genetic cause, but to date, this has not been confirmed or studied.