Syphilis is a very serious disease, the transmission of which occurs through sexual intercourse or through everyday life. This disease affects all body systems. In the absence of the necessary treatment, it can continue for ten years or more, then exacerbating, then again calming down. All this time, a person remains a spread of infection.
Transmission ways
The most infectious are patients who suffer from primary syphilis, with mouth ulcers, genitals, or in the rectum. Infection can be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy. There is also a chance of infection during a blood transfusion.
Very rare cases of infection through the household. Pale treponema, namely this bacterium causes syphilis, cannot live long outside the human body and quickly dies. But at the confluence of certain situations, it can get from the patient to healthy, if the latter has wounds of any nature in his mouth, and he used a glass immediately after a patient with syphilis, which has ulcers in his mouth. Another way for bacteria to enter from an infected organism into a healthy one is to move onto a towel that wiped the patient with syphilis. The microbe also has other ways of infection of a new victim in the domestic way, but they are observed in isolated cases.
The last stage of syphilis is without a doubt the most dangerous. It belongs to the Tertiary period, manifests itself when treatment is insufficient or even absent at the first stages of syphilis. Currently, this disease affects fewer people than it was in previous decades, as a rule has been introduced to screen for carriage of pale treponema (RW reaction). Such an analysis is necessarily performed by all pregnant women, people who have surgery, when registering for many non-venereal diseases.
Last Stage Characteristics
Tertiary syphilis manifests itself either after three to four years, or after ten or more years from the time of infection. Most often, this stage is due to inadequate therapy or the wrong dosage of drugs. A negligible attitude and indiscipline of the patient play a significant role, since it is difficult not to notice the signs of syphilis. There are separate situations when a disease is triggered due to its latent manifestation, in which symptoms are not expressed. There are also a small number of cases (three to five percent) when syphilis goes into the tertiary period, even with timely and competent treatment.
Various factors influence the occurrence of last stage syphilis. For example, if the body is weakened by any serious illnesses, then the pathology can be further aggravated (for example, with hepatitis, tuberculosis or serious inflammatory processes). Drug addiction, alcoholism, living in conditions that do not meet sanitary standards, hard physical work in the absence of rest, strong and frequent emotional upheavals can also affect.
Affecting all body systems
If the first and second stages are characterized by the location of the lesions on the mucous membranes and skin, then during the tertiary period all body systems are affected. In some cases, the pathological process extends even to joints, blood vessels, and bones. Tissues are destroyed, this is accompanied by the occurrence of infiltrates, that is, seals that are formed due to the accumulation of components of cells, lymph or blood.
The last stage of syphilis usually appears in the elderly or in children. Patients sometimes note that over time, the manifestation of symptoms decreases, while others, on the contrary, diagnose worsening. Sometimes it takes several years to get rid of the disease, and in some cases, this process can continue throughout life.
Most often, late syphilis is characterized by distinct symptoms that can not be overlooked. If the patient sees the manifestations of this disease, he should immediately seek help from a doctor who will prescribe timely therapy to him and prevent possible complications. The characteristics of the disease are classified into several types, based on which particular system of the body was affected. We will figure out how to recognize the last stage of syphilis.
Signs of skin lesions
Infiltrates can form on the skin either in the form of tertiary syphilis, that is, tubercles, or in the form of gum. At first, several such tubercles appear on the patient’s body, sometimes affecting not only the upper layers, but also the fiber under the skin. Typically, their number is not more than twenty to thirty, they are located randomly: may affect both the entire surface of the body, and its individual parts. The tubercles usually have a red or cyanotic color, dense to the touch, but at the same time painless. The patient does not feel any physical discomfort because of them, he is unpleasant only from a psychological point of view. Signs of syphilis of the last stage can be easily distinguished from other genital diseases.
Tertiary gummas are essentially quite large nodes that are located in deep layers of the skin. As they develop, these formations contribute to the destruction of healthy tissue adjacent to them and form scars. Most often, only one gum appears on the skin; in more rare cases, their group formations are found. There are other symptoms of last stage syphilis.
Characteristics of mucosal lesions
Compared with the skin, the mucous membranes of the human body are even more vulnerable to various kinds of negative influences, both external and internal. That is why they are much more likely to be damaged due to syphilis of the last stage. Gummas predominantly appear on the mucous membranes; in more rare cases, tubercles appear as a rash. If there is no cure, gummas that originate in the form of nodules become ulcers.
Gumma often appears in the language, while it can be either single or group. As it develops, the nodule pulls the tongue, as a result of which natural processes are impeded to a large extent. At the same time, the patient has difficulty speaking, food intake is complicated, the reaction of taste buds is significantly dulled.
The most dangerous are the lesions of the hard palate, since in many cases the gum formed there also affects the cartilage and bone tissue. If timely therapy is absent, such a nodule is transformed into an ulcer, and after that an unnatural message appears between the oral and nasal cavities. This process affects subsequent speech disorders, complicates the use of food and increases the likelihood of infectious diseases due to secretion in the mouth of the nasal cavity. In the last stage of syphilis, the nose suffers most often. In 5% of patients, due to the destruction of cartilage, the nose may sink (fall through). Correct this defect after the end of syphilis treatment is possible only with the help of plastic surgery.
Symptoms of a musculoskeletal system lesion
The tertiary period differs from the primary and secondary stages of the disease in that it can affect not only the mucous membranes and skin, but also other systems, for example, the musculoskeletal system. Patients with such a lesion feel the most discomfort, often they get disability for the remaining years. A photo of the last stage of syphilis is presented below.
Initially, gummas act exclusively on the periosteum, they can only be seen during an X-ray examination. Developing more and more, this lesion becomes more dense, its size increases, and you can already feel it even with ordinary palpation. After this, the gum either develops further and takes the form of a tumor, or becomes an ulcer (in most cases). With significant destruction If the situation is especially neglected, then in addition to the bone, the bone marrow is also damaged, as a result of which the general signs of the disease worsen.
Features of damage to the nervous system
Currently, neurosyphilis is quite common. It is caused by the entry of pathogens into the brain. Together with the disruption of the musculoskeletal system, this pathological development gives the patient significant discomfort, to a large extent contributes to a decrease in the quality of his life, negatively affects the functioning of other body systems.
At the same time, neurosyphilis is characterized by such symptoms that are identical to other diseases of the nervous system, because of which, with its hidden form, it is not possible to immediately establish its exact cause. This form is characterized by the following features:
- permanent headaches;
- dizziness;
- loss of concentration;
- noise in ears;
- vomiting and nausea;
- bad sleep;
- defects in the auditory and visual apparatus;
- personality changes in terms of the psyche.
Treatment of syphilis of the last stage
Therapy is carried out with antibacterial drugs and other means that affect the causative agent of the disease. The doctor will determine how long the treatment will be, how much medication is needed. It is important to monitor the correct diet, work and rest. Alcohol, drugs and nicotine are excluded from the diet. Procedures are required to heal lesions on the skin. The state of the body is constantly monitored. Blood and urine tests are done, ultrasound and ECG are performed.
What complications can arise?
If you do not treat tertiary syphilis on time or use therapy that is not suitable for this, the risk of worsening the general condition of the patient increases. Damage to the cardiovascular system, leading to acute heart failure and heart attack. In addition, in patients with long-term syphilis, vision loss may occur due to atrophy of the optic nerve. A certain part of patients develop spinal dryness, which leads to the fact that it becomes difficult for the patient to move around, to orient the position of his body in the space of the body nerve. In addition to all these troubles, there is a chance of death, which is noted in twenty-five percent of cases of infection with this disease.