Syphilis. The word conjures the worst of fears--along with a set of relatively unpleasant images! Caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum, syphilis has four stages:
primary (wherein a single sore, or chancre, appears),
secondary (characterized by skin rash and lesions of mucous membranes),
latent stage (when symptoms disappear) and
late stage (wherein the disease attacks the nervous system and internal organs).
It affected the hair and nails, mucous membranes, tongue, larynx, abdomen, arteries, muscles, eyes and ears, nerves and--of course--the brain. Syphilis was dangerous in part because it could go "underground" in a sense, and people who looked perfectly healthy might yet have the...
