Professor Koch (original) (raw)
Professor Koch & KochPostulates Disease Theory Medical tests Diphtheria vaccines
"In 1890, Professor Koch, of Berlin, announced his discovery (?) of tuberculin, and, in common with all other kindred toxins and sera, the medical world forthwith hailed its appearance with enthusiasm. Those of us who have seen the disastrous results following vaccination, in the dissemination of tuberculosis, and other diseases, may reasonably hesitate to accept all that is claimed for tuberculin as a "cure." Shortly after it was announced, test experiments were carried out in Berlin, but, unfortunately for both the discovery and the discoverer, from November, 1890, to February, 1891, the deaths of no fewer than 123 selected cases were reported in the "Zoophilist," of 1st May, 1891 (page 18). After this, both Koch and his tuberculin fell under a cloud."---LEICESTER: SANITATION versus VACCINATION BY J.T. BIGGS J.P.
Therapeutic vaccination, the practice of giving the vaccine to a person already sick with the disease, started with Pasteur's use of rabies vaccination in persons bitten by rabid dogs and with the use of Tuberculin by Robert Koch in 1890 as a treatment for tuberculosis. But Tuberculinum had been a homeopathic remedy for at least ten years prior to 1890, and Koch seems clearly to have taken this idea over from homeopathy.
But he did not appreciate the importance of lowering the doses and adjusting them to the individual patient (i.e., individualization). He gave Tuberculin in tincture to his patients and repeated the dose every day for weeks at a time, causing excessively violent reactions and many thousands of deaths.
The scandal was so great that the great Koch's reputation was almost ruined, and for ten years he had to stay outside Germany engaged in research trips to South Africa and the orient. Tuberculin came back into allopathic use in the early 1900s once it was realized that Koch's doses had been too large. When the dose was lowered to the level of the homeopathic "infinitesimal," Tuberculin was found to be remarkably effective in tuberculosis and other diseases, and it remained a part of allopathic practice until the mid-twentieth century. In fact, it is still in use today. [1994] Empiricism vs. Rationalism in Medicine by Harris L. Coulter, Ph.D.
Robert Koch was racing Pasteur to find the cause of a disease called anthrax, from which great numbers of cattle in Europe were dying. Taking blood from the diseased cattle and isolating bacteria from it, Koch then injected mice with the bacteria. When the mice died, Koch then cultured blood from them and compared it to the original bacteria form the cattle. He developed procedures and his Postulates are still memorized by medical students the world over as the foundation of the Germ Theory:
1. the organism must be present in every case
2. must be isolated
3. must cause the disease in a healthy host
4. must be isolated again
Each postulate has been disproven, then and now, but that has not cheated them of their place as basic tenets in the Germ Theory religion. Both Koch's and Pasteur's vaccines for anthrax were colossal failures, with thousands of sheep killed all over Europe as part of the "experiment," especially in Italy and Germany. It is also interesting to note that both Koch and Pasteur did everything possible to alter and cover up the results of these failures. (Hume) The Post-Antibiotic Age: Germ Theory by Tim O'Shea
Koch made the first vaccine for tuberculosis, employing these same Postulates. He called the vaccine tuberculin. In Berlin alone, 2000 patients were inoculated with Tuberculin. Unfortunately they died at a higher rate than TB patients who hadn't been treated at all.
Tuberculin simply did not work. More distressing for Koch was the admission by the Prussian government that they'd made an exclusive agreement with Koch to sell the remedy and divide the profits. Not only was this a political disaster for the Prussian government and for Koch himself, but it was an embarrassment for the cause of scientific medicine when all the prestige of the scientific method suddenly suffered this blow. Koch never recovered his credibility and is remembered today only for his "Postulates." But Koch helped set the stage for the marriage of science and marketing, for which divorce does not appear likely any time soon, especially at present. The Post-Antibiotic Age: Germ Theory by Tim O'Shea