Sulfa drugs are the common name for a drug category known as sulfonamides which are effective towards a lot of infectious diseases. They are known as one of the first drugs to fix the issues in a time when most drugs could not work to help prevent sickness. Sulfonamides are a group of antimicrobial drugs that contain the sulfanilamide group used to treat certain bacterial infections. The way in which they were discovered is unique.
Sulfa drugs were widely used during World war II, which made a great impact on the mortality rate during the war. The new miracle drug could be carried in powder form and made it easy to take onto the battlefields. Soldiers sprinkled sulfa powders on open wounds and would carry it in a pouch which fit into their belt. After placing the powder into their wounds, the soldier would then wrap gauze around their injured body part. Many lives were saved in WWII versus WWI by the discovery of the sulfa drugs. It was also used by the French foreign legion of Nigeria to treat meningitis. Sulfa drugs are bacteriostatic, they work by inhibiting the growth of the bacteria. …show more content…
Bacteria survive by multiplying in its host cell, so inhibiting their growth would cause the death of the bacteria. Sulfa drugs work of many various diseases that affect the human body. A sulfa drugs main component is an azo dye. This dye was first made by Paul Gelmo a chemistry student at the University of Vienna in 1908. How sulfa drugs work is by an enzyme inhibitor. This unique inhibitor binds and stops the work of Dihydropteroate Synthase (DHPS). The sulfonamide replaces the 4-Aminobenzoic acid’s. The abbreviation for this is known as (PABA). Different bacteria make their own folic acid which is a type of vitamin B complex present and essential for growth in all living cells. One of the important co-factors for folic acid synthesis in bacteria is 4-Aminobenzoic acid’s (PABA). When sulfa drugs were first discovered in the 1930s, it was referred to as a cure for all, because it was used to treat patients suffering from fatal bacterial infections. Some of these infections include pneumonia and blood poisoning. The discovery of sulfa drugs saved a lot of lives. Nothing like it had worked so effectivity or had worked at all to cure patients of their diseases. This was definitely a ground-breaking discovery. Over time, sulfa drug use would diminish. The once cure all sulfa drug would become second to other anti-microbial drugs such as penicillin. These new drugs that would take over would be known as antibiotics. The work more effective and one major reason for an increase in their popularity over sulfa drugs was fewer side effects being caused. Sulfa drugs still do exist but are being combined with known antibiotics to treat different ailments. Some common ailments treated by sulfa drugs in the twenty-first century are its use to treat urinary tract infections, prevent infections from burns and even to help combat certain forms of malaria. In the late 1920s, the Friedrich Bayer Company started a research on the possibility of treating bacterial diseases with synthetic chemicals, but they were making progress slowly. In 1927, a scientist by the name of Gerhard Domagk came to work for the company known as Bayer. Domagk began working with various azo dyes. These
Sulfa drugs were widely used during World war II, which made a great impact on the mortality rate during the war. The new miracle drug could be carried in powder form and made it easy to take onto the battlefields. Soldiers sprinkled sulfa powders on open wounds and would carry it in a pouch which fit into their belt. After placing the powder into their wounds, the soldier would then wrap gauze around their injured body part. Many lives were saved in WWII versus WWI by the discovery of the sulfa drugs. It was also used by the French foreign legion of Nigeria to treat meningitis. Sulfa drugs are bacteriostatic, they work by inhibiting the growth of the bacteria. …show more content…
Bacteria survive by multiplying in its host cell, so inhibiting their growth would cause the death of the bacteria. Sulfa drugs work of many various diseases that affect the human body. A sulfa drugs main component is an azo dye. This dye was first made by Paul Gelmo a chemistry student at the University of Vienna in 1908. How sulfa drugs work is by an enzyme inhibitor. This unique inhibitor binds and stops the work of Dihydropteroate Synthase (DHPS). The sulfonamide replaces the 4-Aminobenzoic acid’s. The abbreviation for this is known as (PABA). Different bacteria make their own folic acid which is a type of vitamin B complex present and essential for growth in all living cells. One of the important co-factors for folic acid synthesis in bacteria is 4-Aminobenzoic acid’s (PABA). When sulfa drugs were first discovered in the 1930s, it was referred to as a cure for all, because it was used to treat patients suffering from fatal bacterial infections. Some of these infections include pneumonia and blood poisoning. The discovery of sulfa drugs saved a lot of lives. Nothing like it had worked so effectivity or had worked at all to cure patients of their diseases. This was definitely a ground-breaking discovery. Over time, sulfa drug use would diminish. The once cure all sulfa drug would become second to other anti-microbial drugs such as penicillin. These new drugs that would take over would be known as antibiotics. The work more effective and one major reason for an increase in their popularity over sulfa drugs was fewer side effects being caused. Sulfa drugs still do exist but are being combined with known antibiotics to treat different ailments. Some common ailments treated by sulfa drugs in the twenty-first century are its use to treat urinary tract infections, prevent infections from burns and even to help combat certain forms of malaria. In the late 1920s, the Friedrich Bayer Company started a research on the possibility of treating bacterial diseases with synthetic chemicals, but they were making progress slowly. In 1927, a scientist by the name of Gerhard Domagk came to work for the company known as Bayer. Domagk began working with various azo dyes. These