Just as the usual statements in regard to the extent of venereal disease have been found untrue or greatly exaggerated, so do the statements regarding the curability or rather incurability of venereal disease need careful revision. The picture usually painted of the hopelessness of gonorrhea and syphilis is too sombre, too black, and, contrary to the assertions made by laymen and laywomen and physicians who do not specialize in the treatment of venereal disease, I wish to make the statement that every case of gonorrhea in man, without any exception, if properly treated, can be perfectly cured, as far as practical purposes are concerned.
I add the last phrase because the cure may not be perfect in the scientific sense of the word; that is, the man may not be brought back into the condition in which he was before he got the disease. But, for all practical purposes, as far as he himself is concerned, as far as his wife is concerned, and as far as the future children are concerned, every case may be cured, without any doubt. And I say this, basing myself upon a varied professional experience extending over nearly a quarter of a century.
As to gonorrhea in women, that depends to a great extent upon the virulence of the disease and the promptness with which treatment is instituted. If the gonorrhea is limited only to the cervix, the vulva and the urethra, then prompt treatment will usually bring about a cure in a comparatively short time. But if the gonorrheal inflammation has extended to the body of the uterus, or still worse, to the tubes, then the treatment may become a very tedious one, and some cases may not be curable without an operation.
With syphilis the matter is different. Since the introduction by Ehrlich of the various arsenic preparations, we have much better success in the treatment of syphilis, and we can positively render every case non-infectious to the partner.
But, as to guaranteeing a positive cure, that is, guaranteeing that the patient will never have an outbreak or relapse of his disease in the future, and that the children will be perfectly free from any taint, this we can do no more now than we could before the modern treatment of syphilis was introduced. The decision, therefore, as to whether we may or may not permit a once syphilitic patient to marry will depend a great deal upon whether or no the husband or the wife or both desire to have children. If this is the case, we must often withhold our permission; but if the man and woman agree to get married and to get along without children, we will grant permission to the marriage in the vast majority of cases. The subject of venereal disease and marriage will be further discussed in separate chapters.
Venereal disease, I have to repeat, is terrible enough in itself, without any exaggeration, without picturing it in too black colors. And it is necessary that people should not have too black an idea of it. It is necessary that they know that there are thousands and tens of thousands of patients who suffered with gonorrhea or syphilis and who were perfectly cured, who married, and whose wives remained perfectly well, and who gave birth to perfectly healthy untainted children.
I add the last phrase because the cure may not be perfect in the scientific sense of the word; that is, the man may not be brought back into the condition in which he was before he got the disease. But, for all practical purposes, as far as he himself is concerned, as far as his wife is concerned, and as far as the future children are concerned, every case may be cured, without any doubt. And I say this, basing myself upon a varied professional experience extending over nearly a quarter of a century.
As to gonorrhea in women, that depends to a great extent upon the virulence of the disease and the promptness with which treatment is instituted. If the gonorrhea is limited only to the cervix, the vulva and the urethra, then prompt treatment will usually bring about a cure in a comparatively short time. But if the gonorrheal inflammation has extended to the body of the uterus, or still worse, to the tubes, then the treatment may become a very tedious one, and some cases may not be curable without an operation.
With syphilis the matter is different. Since the introduction by Ehrlich of the various arsenic preparations, we have much better success in the treatment of syphilis, and we can positively render every case non-infectious to the partner.
But, as to guaranteeing a positive cure, that is, guaranteeing that the patient will never have an outbreak or relapse of his disease in the future, and that the children will be perfectly free from any taint, this we can do no more now than we could before the modern treatment of syphilis was introduced. The decision, therefore, as to whether we may or may not permit a once syphilitic patient to marry will depend a great deal upon whether or no the husband or the wife or both desire to have children. If this is the case, we must often withhold our permission; but if the man and woman agree to get married and to get along without children, we will grant permission to the marriage in the vast majority of cases. The subject of venereal disease and marriage will be further discussed in separate chapters.
Venereal disease, I have to repeat, is terrible enough in itself, without any exaggeration, without picturing it in too black colors. And it is necessary that people should not have too black an idea of it. It is necessary that they know that there are thousands and tens of thousands of patients who suffered with gonorrhea or syphilis and who were perfectly cured, who married, and whose wives remained perfectly well, and who gave birth to perfectly healthy untainted children.
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