Glossary / History of psychiatry
Cerebrospinal fluid
The clear fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. A small sample can give clues to diseases of the brain and nerves.
In 1906 August Wassermann and his colleagues in Germany published a blood test for syphilis[1]. The test was also applied to the spinal fluid of patients with general paresis. In 1909 Hideyo Noguchi and J. W. Moore examined the spinal fluid of paretic patients by three methods. Of 43 patients with the cerebral form, 32 were positive on the Wassermann test[2].
Finding signs of syphilis in the spinal fluid strengthened the view that syphilis was the cause of general paresis. In 1913 the organism itself was found in the brains of patients[3].
Related terms
- General paresisA disease caused by the syphilis organism entering the brain. Mental symptoms such as memory loss and delusions advance together with bodily ones such as slurred speech and tremor.
- SyphilisAn infection caused by a spiral-shaped bacterium, Treponema pallidum. It spreads mainly by sex and, after many years, can attack the brain and nerves.
Sources
- A. Wassermann, A. Neisser, C. Bruck, “Eine serodiagnostische Reaktion bei Syphilis,” Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 32(19), 745–746 (1906).
- H. Noguchi, J. W. Moore, “The Butyric Acid Test for Syphilis in the Diagnosis of Metasyphilitic and Other Nervous Disorders,” Journal of Experimental Medicine 11(4), 604–613 (1909).
- H. Noguchi, J. W. Moore, “A Demonstration of Treponema pallidum in the Brain in Cases of General Paralysis,” Journal of Experimental Medicine 17(2), 232–238 (1913).