34 
SAFEGUARDING THE SEX LIFE 
Syphilis can commonly be cured if treatment is used early 
and persistently. Patients are tempted to stop treatment as 
soon as the symptoms of the disease disappear. The first 
symptoms always disappear in a short time, but the germs of 
the disease remain. Treatment should be kept up for many 
months, until the physician pronounces the cure complete. 
Quack doctors, “ men’s specialists,” are to be avoided more 
than ever in venereal disease. They commonly claim to have 
cured a case as soon as the first symptoms disappear. The 
patient goes on his way, confiding in this false assurance, to 
be horribly disillusioned when he finds he has infected the 
bride he has married or when his own health breaks beyond 
recovery. 
Syphilis is more likely than gonorrhea to be communi¬ 
cated through other means than sex relations. In a commu¬ 
nity where syphilis is common, as it is in all our large cities 
and in some smaller places, we must cautiously guard our 
bodies from contamination. At school or on the railway 
train have your own drinking cup if there is no sanitary 
fountain. Use your own comb and brush and avoid any 
towel used in common with others. In public closets take 
great care that your skin does not come in contact with 
surfaces that may have been contaminated by diseased 
persons. 
1. Why has syphilis been more dreaded than gonorrhea? 
2. How does syphilis affect the body ? 
3. How does syphilis in parents affect the children? 
4. Why do patients so often neglect adequate treatment for 
syphilis ? 
5. Why are advertising doctors to be avoided especially in vene¬ 
real diseases ? 
6. In what ways other than sex relations is syphilis communi¬ 
cated ? 
7. Why do some states forbid railways to provide common 
drinking cups on the cars ? 
