Pyrotherapy (artificial fever) is a method of treatment by raising the

body temperature Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...

or sustaining an elevated body temperature using a

fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...

. In general, the body temperature was maintained at 41 °C (105 °F). Many diseases were treated by this method in the first half of the 20th century. In general, it was done by exposing the patient to hot baths, warm air, or (electric) blankets. The technique reached its peak of sophistication in the early 20th century with malariotherapy, in which ''

Plasmodium vivax ''Plasmodium vivax'' is a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen. This parasite is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring malaria. Although it is less virulent than ''Plasmodium falciparum'', the deadliest of the five huma ...

'', a causative agent of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, was allowed to infect already ill patients in order to produce intense fever for therapeutic ends. The sophistication of this approach lay in using effective anti-malarial drugs to control the ''P. vivax'' infection, while maintaining the fever it causes to the detriment of other, ongoing, and then-incurable infections present in the patient, such as late-stage

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

. This type of pyrotherapy was most famously used by psychiatrist

Julius Wagner-Jauregg Julius Wagner-Jauregg (; 7 March 1857 – 27 September 1940) was an Austrian physician, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1927, and is the first psychiatrist to have done so. His Nobel award was "for his discovery of the therapeu ...

, who won the

Nobel Prize for Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according ...

in 1927 for his elaboration of the procedure in treating neurosyphilitics.

Use

Wagner-Jauregg Julius Wagner-Jauregg (; 7 March 1857 – 27 September 1940) was an Austrian physician, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1927, and is the first psychiatrist to have done so. His Nobel award was "for his discovery of the therapeu ...

’s 1917 treatment method, also known as

malariotherapy The malaria therapy (or malaria inoculation, and sometimes malariotherapy) is a medical procedure of treating diseases using artificial injection of malaria parasites. It is a type of pyrotherapy (or pyretotherapy) by which high fever is induced to ...

, involved the introduction of ''

via injection into patients with advanced stages of

. Advanced syphilitic infection can invade the brain causing

neurosyphilis Neurosyphilis refers to infection of the central nervous system in a patient with syphilis. In the era of modern antibiotics the majority of neurosyphilis cases have been reported in HIV-infected patients. Meningitis is the most common neurologic ...

, affecting neural performance and function, which can in turn lead to

general paresis of the insane General paresis, also known as general paralysis of the insane (GPI), paralytic dementia, or syphilitic paresis is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder, classified as an organic mental disorder and is caused by late-stage syphilis and the chro ...

(GPI), a severely debilitating mental disorder. Doing so induced high-grade (103 °F, 39.4 °C or above) fever that was easily sustainable to eradicate invading

spirochaetal A spirochaete () or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota (), (synonym Spirochaetes) which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled (corkscrew-shaped or ...

bacterium ''

Treponema pallidum ''Treponema pallidum'', formerly known as ''Spirochaeta pallida'', is a spirochaete bacterium with various subspecies that cause the diseases syphilis, bejel (also known as endemic syphilis), and yaws. It is transmitted only among humans. It is ...

,'' the pathogen responsible for syphilitic infection. Successive rounds of treatment were required to fully eradicate the infectious bacteria, while simultaneously using

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg cr ...

to treat the malaria infection. Management of the fevers was risky as malaria fevers can sometimes cause death, but syphilis was a proliferate and terminal disease at the time with no other viable treatment. This procedure was used to treat syphilis until

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...

was found to be a safer, more effective measure in the 1940s. The

caused by

was effectively overcome by the method. Pyrotherapy was also employed in

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

. Of note here is the use of

sulfozinum Sulfozinum (sulfozin) is a pharmaceutical drug that causes a pyrogenic reaction (body temperature elevation) and severe pain. Sulfozinum is a 0.37 - 2% sterilized solution of purified elemental sulfur in peach oil or olive oil for intramuscular ...

and pyrogenal that was relatively widespread in

Soviet psychiatry This list of Russian physicians and psychologists includes the famous physicians and psychologists, medical scientists and medical doctors from the Russian Federation, the Soviet Union, the Russian Empire and other predecessor states of Russia. P ...

. Against

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

"Saprovitan" and "Pyrifer" were tried.Bangen, Hans: Geschichte der medikamentösen Therapie der Schizophrenie. Berlin 1992, Pages 32–37 Fiebertherapien .

Effectiveness

In 1921, Wagner-Jauregg reported impressive success and many other physicians attempting malaria induced pyrotherapy made similar claims. Later analyses have shown this might not have been true since approximately 60% would relapse within 2 years and 3–20% died from the resulting fevers. Significant consideration should be used here, as syphilis was considered deadly and without other treatment options pyrotherapy was used as a

heroic measure In medicine, heroic treatment or course of therapy is one which possesses a high risk of causing further damage to a patient's health, but is undertaken as a last resort with the understanding that any lesser treatment will surely result in failur ...

Citations

General bibliography

* History of medicine Therapy {{treatment-stub