As for the United States, in 1970 it saw a 16-percent increase in gonorrhea and an 8-percent increase in syphilis over the previous year. Besides, it has been estimated that there are some 500,000 undetected cases of syphilis.

Rates in some cities have doubled and even tripled over the previous year. Houston, Texas, is said to have a “galloping venereal disease epidemic,” and in Los Angeles in the past year 6 percent of women giving birth to babies had gonorrhea. United States health officials state that, while the syphilis problem is disturbing, the gonorrhea situation has almost reached a point causing despair.

Syphilis and Gonorrhea

Syphilis is the more dangerous, whereas gonorrhea is the most prevalent venereal disease. Concerning syphilis, Boyd’s Textbook of Pathology states: “Of all diseases it is the most subtle. It is a master of disguise. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that there is no symptom that it cannot cause.” It even has been said that one who knows all about syphilis knows all about medicine. It is transmitted almost solely by sex relations, and mothers having it can infect their unborn offspring, though it is not hereditary.

Syphilis, which is caused by a very active and tiny corkscrew-like organism, has three stages. There is a primary stage, in which a sore or pimple develops at the place where the germ entered. Then within two or three months the more serious second stage appears. It may be marked by chills, fever, headache, white mucous patches in the mouth, and hair falling out.

For one third of the cases there is a third stage. It may appear a few months or a few years after the second stage, although at times it does not make itself manifest until ten or twenty years later. The parts most frequently harmed are the brain, the spinal cord, the eyes, the liver and the blood vessels of the heart. From 5 to 8 percent of all cases of insanity are said to be due to VD. Recently a brain specialist found 226 persons suffering from mental disorders for which no cause had been ascertained, but who had been treated for syphilis years before.