Inflammation Syphilis

Although now essentially obsolete for the treatment of human diseases because of their toxicities, organoarsenic compounds were the first synthetic organic pharmaceutical agents and were widely used in the early 1900s. The first pharmaceutical application was that of atoxyl (the sodium salt of 4-aminophenylarsinic acid), which was used to treat sleeping sickness. The synthesis of Salvarsan by Dr. Paul Ehrlich in 1907 was a development that may be considered the beginning of modem chemotherapy (chemical treatment of disease). Salvarsan was widely used for the treatment of syphilis. Toxic effects of Salvarsan included jaundice and encephalitis (brain inflammation). 

Because Treponema pallidum is sensitive to penicillin G, this antibiotic is the drug of choice for treatment of syphilis and syphilitic eye disease (see Table 11-1). Syphilitic eye disease can include interstitial keratitis (stromal inflammation and vascularization), episcleritis, scleritis, nongranulomatous or granulomatous iritis, iris papules (collections of dilated capillaries in the iris), chorioretinitis, papillitis, retinal vasculitis, and exudative retinal detachment. Probenecid can be added to procaine penicillin to decrease excretion of the penicillin by the kidneys, thus causing an increase in penicillin plasma levels. Penicillins are not used for the treatment of minor ocular infections such as blepharitis and conjimctivitis... 

Ferri lodidi Syrupus (iodine of iron [syrup]) Used in scrofula (inflammation of the lymph nodes, especially in the neck). Also used in secondary syphilis. 

In some cases, showers of small emboli cause penetrator strokes as well as cortical strokes. Small emboli may also reach these vessels. Chroiuc meningitis due to tuberculosis or syphilis commonly causes stroke in the penetrator territory due to inflammation around the parent vessel at the base of the brain with occlusion of the thin penetrators exiting through the inflammatory reaction (Table 2.4 lists the causes of lacunar infarcts) [69]. 

Traditional use This is a well-known herb to all Central Asian people. Avicenna used the plant as an analgesic for patients with sciatic nerve inflammation. In folk medicine the herb is used in baths to treat rheumatism, scabies, and other skin diseases. A decoction or infusion of the plant is drunk to treat common colds, malaria, fever, syphilis, neurasthenia, and epilepsy, and is also used as a mouth wash to treat gum disease. The smoke of the burning herb is good for headaches for epileptic diseases the patient s room is filled with the smoke. A decoction of the seeds mixed with flax seeds is recommended for asthma and breathlessness, it is mixed with chili pepper to treat syphilis, and it is used as a diuretic and diaphoretic (Khalmatov et al. 1984 Gammerman et al. 1990). In Tajikistan smoke from the plant is used to treat paralytics. The leaves are used as a poultice to treat swelling (Khodzhimatov 1989). 

Gumma A granulomatous inflammation, symptomatic of syphilis, that destroys tissue. 

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