VENEREAL DISEASES: A TERTIARY STAGE OF SYPHILIS
A tertiary stage appears later, sometimes after an interval as long as twenty years, during which time the individual may believe himself cured. During this stage characteristic growths, known as gummas, form and result in extensive destruction of tissue. They may appear anywhere. Obviously they are more dangerous to life if they involve any of the vital organs. The liver is frequently involved. Sometimes the wall of the aorta is so weakened by syphilitic tissue changes that it bulges to many times its normal diameter. In this condition it is very prone to sudden rupture, and, when this occurs, death follows immediately.
Involvement of the nervous system is frequently spoken of as a fourth stage. If the spinal cord is involved, the condition called tabes dorsalis (locomotor ataxia) follows. If the brain is the site of the attack, a type of insanity known as general paresis, or dementia paralytica (commonly called "softening of the brain"), ensues. It is characterized by a false sense of well-being, blurred speech, delusions of grandeur, etc., and it culminates in the retrogression of the mind to the level of an animal.
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