FEVER THERAPY IN PELVIC CONDITIONS
WILLIAM BIERMAN, E. A. HOROWITZ, C. L. LEVENSON · 1935
This 1935 fever therapy study used RF energy to treat infections, highlighting early medical RF use before safety concerns emerged.
Plain English Summary
This 1935 study by Bierman examined using radiofrequency diathermy (RF heating therapy) to treat pelvic infections, particularly those caused by gonococci bacteria. The research explored whether controlled RF heating could effectively treat urethral and bladder infections by raising tissue temperature to levels that would kill harmful bacteria.
Why This Matters
What makes this 1935 research particularly significant is that it represents one of the earliest documented uses of radiofrequency energy for medical treatment - decades before we understood the potential health risks of RF exposure. The study examined using RF diathermy to generate therapeutic heat in pelvic tissues, essentially cooking bacteria to death with electromagnetic fields. While this approach may have shown some medical benefit, it also exposed patients to substantial RF radiation levels that would likely be considered unsafe by today's standards.
The reality is that this historical research highlights a troubling pattern: the medical establishment has repeatedly embraced electromagnetic technologies for their beneficial effects while largely ignoring potential harm. Today's wireless devices operate on similar RF principles but at lower power levels - yet we're exposed continuously rather than in controlled medical settings. The science demonstrates that even these lower-level exposures can have biological effects, raising questions about our casual acceptance of ubiquitous RF radiation in modern life.
Finding
The gonococcus has two interesting characteristics: the first is that it has adapted itself to grow in one species of animal only—homo sapiens. And the second, that it may be killed at temperatures which are comparatively uninjurious to the protoplasm of human cells. This latter fact offers a possible approach for therapeutic attack upon the germ.
In their words
“The gonococcus has two interesting characteristics: the first is that it has adapted itself to grow in one species of animal only—homo sapiens. And the second, that it may be killed at temperatures which are comparatively uninjurious to the protoplasm of human cells. This latter fact offers a possible approach for therapeutic attack upon the germ.”
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. Duration: The treatment lasted forty-five minutes and the maximal current was 2,000 ma. The treatment lasted thirty to forty-five minutes each day. The treatment lasted about one hour. The treatment lasted three and one-half hours. The treatment lasted from three to four hours. The treatment lasted about one and one-half hours.
Study Details
To discover how much heat pelvic tissues could tolerate before they became destroyed, and how best to create such a degree of temperature elevation.
The study involved experimental and clinical investigations of fever therapy in pelvic conditions, p...
The researchers found that gross evidence of coagulation of the vaginal mucosa occurs at 113 degrees...
The study concluded that heating of the pelvic tissues by means of transpelvic diathermy is relatively inadequate. The researchers found that the best method for treating gonorrhea was combined general hyperthermia with heat localization by radiothermy. They treated 52 women for gonorrhea, with 45 of the 52 patients having their cervix and urethra freed of gonococci after an average of 2.4 treatments. The treatment was followed by rapid subsidence of tubal inflammation, with pain disappearing and adnexal masses becoming smaller. However, in six cases a palpable enlargement of the adnexa persisted.
Show BibTeX
@article{fever_therapy_in_pelvic_conditions_g5851,
author = {WILLIAM BIERMAN and E. A. HOROWITZ and C. L. LEVENSON},
title = {FEVER THERAPY IN PELVIC CONDITIONS},
year = {1935},
}