The power of science lies in the fact that every hypothesis is constructed in such a way that it can be refuted. If a view is formulated in such a way that arguments against it cannot be presented, it is not scientific. This process may take a very long time. Some theories have been with us for hundreds of years, but human inquisitiveness means that they are subjected to tests of falsifiability and many of the old ways of thinking about the world have to bow to the pressure of new facts. That is what happened with the theory of the origin of one of the sexually transmitted diseases called syphilis and in medical nomenclature, infections caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies. Infection can also occur via transplacental transmission, which, as we will see later, is important in this case.
Dispute over the origin of syphilis
Medical literature to this day, and textbooks in particular, say that syphilis was brought by Columbus from the Americas. And it was not. We have been collecting evidence for this since the 1980s
– says Prof. Maciej Henneberg, one of the world's most eminent biological anthropologists, Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Lodz.
It is commonly believed that syphilis was the only disease that the "discoverers of the New World", i.e. participants of Christopher Columbus' expeditions, brought from America to the Old World, i.e. Europe. This thinking was influenced by a series of epidemics of this disease, which even shaped the fate of humanity. A sensational film on this topic was published in 2021 by Dawid Myśliwiec, one of the most famous science popularisers in Poland. However, also in this material, although it is noted that there is an ongoing dispute in the world of science on this issue, the thesis that syphilis was brought to the "Old World" by sailors crossing the Atlantic was cited.
Refutation of the hypothesis by Prof. Maciej Henneberg
During the lecture 'Evidence of Pre-Columbian treponemal infection in the Western half of the Old World', at the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection of the University of Lodz, Prof. Maciej Henneberg presents a range of evidence that the disease caused by the Treponema pallidum was in Europe, Asia and Africa long before Columbus' discoveries. Like a high-class criminologist, he presents the evidence methodically on the basis of his own anthropological research, in which he searched for skeletons bearing the features of characteristic deformities resulting from the mother-to-child transmission of syphilis.
We encourage you to listen to the lecture of Prof. Maciej Henneberg, Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Lodz
Syphilis is completely curable!
The number of syphilis cases in Poland has been increasing in recent years (text in Polish). Remember that this disease is completely curable and one visit to a doctor can help.
More information about Prof. Maciej Henneberg’s research
Advancing the understanding of treponemal disease in the past and present (pdf)
Silent evidence of Pre-Columbian treponemal infection in the Western half of the Old World
Edit: Michał Gruda (Communications and POR Centre, University of Lodz)
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