Achievements of a woman who saved thousands of leprosy patients were appropriated by a colleague (8 photos)

Leprosy is a terrible and very ancient disease. The first mention of it refers to the third millennium BC.





It disfigures the bodies of people, turning them into mangled monsters, into which almost no human remains over the years of illness. Accordingly, in order to prevent the spread of infection and simply because of the repulsive appearance of the unfortunate, they were evicted outside the populated places where they lived out their lives in a kind of ghetto.



Pathogen under the microscope

The causative agent - a bacillus or bacillus Hansen was identified in 1873 year. But it took decades to find methods to combat it. A colossal contribution to this matter was made by the chemist Alice Ball.



sick with leprosy

A native of Seattle, she was born in 1892. Science I got carried away thanks to my grandfather: James Ball was one of the first blacks photographers. And the girl watched him with fascination as he worked with reagents.

After receiving a diploma from the University of Washington, the girl continued her studies, and for the first time in its history a woman received a degree master. Together with the surgeon Harry Hollman, she began research effects on the causative agent of leprosy hydnocarpus oil. It showed good results, but the positive consequence turned out to be accidental.



Hydnocarpus



Although the oil of this tropical plant has been used since ancient times for treatment of skin diseases, when used as an injection, it does not gave the desired result. It was too thick, and then on the body there was a painful blister that did not pass for a long time. And Hallman needs was a man well versed in the properties of plants. Alice's dissertation was just devoted to methods of obtaining from medicinal plants active components.



Alice Ball

She was able to cope with the task and by saponification isolated the components for the manufacture of the composition, which could be use for injection.

She transformed the resulting salts of fatty acids into ether. Which, after processing, was perfectly absorbed by the body with preservation full range of medicinal properties.



And it really was a breakthrough: as a result of treating patients began to write hundreds. Most likely, Alice would still surprise this world. But, alas, the girl died very young, only 24 years old. And arrange and She did not have time to publish the results of her work. But it's great colleague Arthur Dean did, signing the article with his name. And the public considered him the author of innovative technology. Only after Hallman's publication, in which he indicated the name of the real developer, the truth came out.



However, the bureaucratic machine, as usual, creaked for a long time wheels. Only in 2000 at the University of Hawaii was installed memorial plaque in honor of Alice. And after 7 years the chemist posthumously awarded with a medal of distinction.

Prevent complications and return to normal life for thousands people allowed the results of Ball's work. They were the main therapeutic agent until the 40s, when they began to treat leprosy use antibiotics.