(ORDO NEWS) — Although sexually transmitted diseases have been known to mankind for centuries, adequate treatment has appeared relatively recently.
And our ancestors had to suffer from barbaric procedures that did not bring the desired effect and did not cure genital tract infections.
If you imagine that real people who were already suffering from symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases were treated with these methods, it becomes uncomfortable. It’s good that STDs are treated differently today!
Ancient Egypt
The most interesting question regarding the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in the past is whether people of antiquity associated specific diseases with sex.
Not to mention that the symptoms of many STDs are similar to other diseases, so sometimes it is very difficult to distinguish one ailment from another.
It is impossible to say for sure, but some documentary evidence nevertheless confirms: even then people were aware that unprotected (and there could be no other) sex can provoke infection with sexually transmitted infections.
For example, the Ebers Papyrus, a kind of medical encyclopedia of the ancient Egyptians, depicts doctors trying to help patients cope with pain in the groin area.
According to Professor Franjo Gruber’s interpretation in his book A History of Sexually Transmitted Diseases from Antiquity to the Renaissance, the Eber papyrus demonstrates the use of sandalwood oil in an attempt to treat a urethral infection that could also be a sexually transmitted disease.
But this is not the only method of “solving sexual problems” known to the ancient Egyptians.
They cast spells and cast out evil spirits from the bodies of patients, and used numerous ointments and ointments with herbs, garlic, and even a little crushed cow horn to treat sexual infections in this way or prevent infection.
Ancient Greece
Historians believe that the ancient Greeks and Romans were aware of the possible risks due to insecure communications.
So before the process, they took a shower, washed themselves thoroughly and rubbed “this” area with oils to prevent infection with sexually transmitted diseases. But there were also more extreme methods.
Soranus of Ephesus, an ancient Greek physician who worked in Rome, believed that the cause of venereal diseases is the general weakness of the body, which needs healing and exercise.
He recommended that those infected with gonorrhea wear lead weights to help the body get stronger and cope with the disease.
But another thing is the treatment of herpes, which has been known to the Greeks since the founding of Greece itself (even the word is Greek).
But, probably, no one, except the Greeks, proposed such a barbaric and terrible method of treating this viral sexual disease. Burn with hot iron. In the literal sense of the word.
Her Majesty Mercury
Mercury was used everywhere – it was believed that with its help syphilis could be cured.
The first remedy for the treatment of syphilis – mercury compounds and mercury ointments – was proposed by the famous Paracelsus.
Mercury ointment was rubbed into the legs. The mercury treatment for this sexually transmitted disease, recommended by the Italian physician Giovanni de Vigo, has been used in Europe for about 400 years.
For a very long time, she was treated with syphilis – everyone, from ordinary soldiers to the top of society.
Along with mercury, in the 16th century, Europeans began to use the so-called lignum vitae, a hawaiac tree that was brought to Europe from Jamaica, to treat genital infections.
Despite people’s strong belief in its miraculous properties, there is no evidence that it actually treated genital tract infections.
XIII century, Italy
Rogerius of Salerno (not to be confused with Roger of Salerno, an Italian nobleman) has earned his place in the history of medicine. In the 13th century, he wrote one of the most detailed surgical manuals at that time.
The standards described there seem frightening to our contemporaries – primarily because of the lack of anesthesia. But for those times, his solutions were, one might say, innovative.
As a treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, he suggested either letting leeches suck all the “dirty blood” out of the body, or what Professor Gruber delicately called “urethral irrigation” – a procedure with a tube that is dipped into that very place.
Medieval Europe
One of the surest remedies for venereal diseases in the European Middle Ages was lead.
Yes, not just lead, but baths with lead vapors and the so-called “sweaty clothes” – shreds of cloth that were dipped in a liquid containing lead.
18th century, France: spanking and confession
In France, at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries, there was already a well-established system for curing syphilis. It consisted of three stages.
First of all, the sick man, already suffering from a sexual infection, was flogged – publicly, in the city square.
After that, he was sent to the hospital, and if the disease was not too advanced, the doctors got down to business.
They did bloodletting, then gastric lavage, and then two-hour baths for two weeks. And again gastric lavage.
The third stage consisted of mercury ointments. After that, the patient with an uncured venereal disease was declared healthy and expelled from the hospital.
England, 19th century: prison for women
Venereal disease became a huge problem in 19th century England, hitting the army and navy the hardest. After all, returning to their homeland, soldiers and sailors first of all went for venal love.
In the 1860s, the government criminalized brothel workers by law. If the police suspected a certain woman, they could force her to undress and examine her for signs of STDs.
If the servants of the law found signs of a sexual infection, the woman was sent to special institutions for treatment.
If she refused, she was placed in prison – for up to a year, without the opportunity to go out or earn a living.
How are sexually transmitted diseases treated today?
We do not realize how lucky we are – we can not only cure many venereal diseases, but also easily prevent them.
In response to the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released new guidelines for the treatment of three common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) – gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia.
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted disease that can lead to infection of the genitals, rectum, and throat.
With the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, WHO is urging countries to update their national guidelines for the treatment of gonorrhea.
National health authorities should monitor the levels of resistance to various antibiotics in gonococcal strains circulating in their populations.
The new guidance calls on health authorities to recommend that clinicians prescribe the antibiotic that is most effective in the context of local patterns of resistance.
According to new WHO guidelines, the use of quinolones (a class of antibiotics) is not recommended for the treatment of gonorrhea due to widespread high levels of resistance.
Syphilis
Syphilis is spread by contact with a sore on the genitals, anus, rectum, lips, and mouth, or from mother to child during pregnancy.
This sexual infection, transmitted to the fetus by a woman with untreated syphilis, often results in fetal death.
New WHO guidance strongly recommends the use of a single dose of benzathine penicillin, an injectable antibiotic that a doctor or nurse injects into the buttock or thigh muscle of an infected patient, to treat syphilis.
It is the most effective drug for this venereal disease, more effective and cheaper than oral antibiotics.
Chlamydia
Chlamydia is the most common bacterial infection of the genital tract, and people with this infection often co-infect with gonorrhea.
Symptoms of chlamydia include discharge and a burning sensation when urinating, but most people have no symptoms of the infection.
However, even in the absence of symptoms, chlamydia can have negative consequences for the reproductive system.
When used correctly and consistently, condoms are one of the most effective methods of protection against STIs.
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