How the Sulfa Drugs Came into Being

With all the many functions of medical science, perhaps the one that stands out is that which pertains to its aiding, reinforcing, and supplementing the human body's natural reactions to such things or influences that are deemed deleterious. Here we can cite two examples. The first one, involving an individual suffering from anemia, emphasizes the importance of blood transfusion in helping the bone marrow provide a sufficient number of red blood cells. The second, involving a person with a broken bone, stresses the significance of the application of a cast in practically eliminating any movement at the point of break which the body's natural defense called pain can only reduce.

Similarly, we can say here that, in the annals of medical science, efforts exerted have been too many and quite extensive to discover and make use of substances that can destroy bacteria but are innocuous to man in the control of infections, in attempts to strengthen the human body's natural defenses mentioned previously.

One of the most remarkable triumphs of medical science is the control of bacterial infections, and this has been made possible primarily through the discovery of the sulfa drugs. Much like the antibiotics, sulfa drugs fight infections, not by augmenting the natural defenses of the body, but by penetrating the tissues and fluids of the body and destroying the intruding disease-causing microorganisms.

The pressures of circumstance as well as the good chances for advancement instant during the Second World War were the great driving forces in the research and testing of drugs that can combat bacterial infections. The strong desire to lessen or eliminate infections of wounds gave rise to the urgent need for such drugs. The large number of soldiers provided the opportunity to make further tests on substances already proven to be at least innocuous to man, and to demonstrate the efficacy of these substances in battling infections. This was the exact scenario that led to the development or formulation of the sulfa drugs, which became prominent during the said period of worldwide armed conflict.

For a long time, the existence of the sulfa compounds has been known, in fact way before their medicinal value against infections was shown. For example, sulfanilamide - the parent compound of most of the sulfa drugs, and which is an effective substance in the treatment of certain infections - was the result of continuous studies and systematic examinations by many scientists that spanned three decades.

Sulfanilamide was first produced in 1908, but its usefulness then only pertains to its being a dye component. In several instances, its potential for fighting harmful bacteria was noted, although none of those occasions offered any solid proof. Almost thirty years later, a German scientist experimented on mice, giving them a sulfanilamide compound, and then infecting them with deadly doses of streptococci (parasitic bacteria). The experiment clearly demonstrated that the mice failed to die.

The German scientist's spectacular discovery paved the way for many more experiments to be conducted in the United States and Europe, all of which proved the effectiveness of sulfanilamide in fighting certain infections in man. Not long after, sulfa drugs were manufactured and became prominent agents in the control of infections. The use of sulfa drugs against disease (and possible death) in the wounded soldiers of the eventful episodes of the Second World War was a vital factor for either forces in winning the war. Inspite of the fact that the sulfanilamide compound originated in Germany, its effective employment occurred primarily in the medical facilities and laboratories of the allied countries England and the United States.