The Nobel Prize awarded for intentionally infecting patients with malaria
In short: In 1927, a Nobel Prize was awarded for a treatment that involved deliberately inducing malaria in patients. This video explores the history of pyrotherapy and the ethical controversies surrounding its use to treat neurosyphilis.
Julius Wagner-Jauregg received the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering that malaria inoculation could treat dementia paralytica, a late-stage syphilis that attacks the brain and psyche. By exposing patients to malaria-infected blood, Wagner-Jauregg aimed to alleviate the lethargic and paralytic states of the disease. He chose a relatively innocuous type of malaria to ensure the patient's health could be improved by the resulting fever.
The treatment is rooted in ancient observations that fevers could ameliorate mental illness. However, the practice remains a subject of significant historical and ethical scrutiny due to the intentional infection of humans with a dangerous parasite.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Pyrotherapy: An Awful Nobel Prize for Infecting People with Malaria
- Also: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1927
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