The History of Whipple's Disease

This episode delves into the history of Whipple's disease — from its initial description, to the lengthy process of proving it's an infectious disease. Intro :11 In this episode :12 The initial case report 1:35 How I fit into the history of Whipple's 4:46 Back to the case report 6:56 Bodies in the intestines 10:12 More about George Hoyt Whipple 10:50 Whipple may not have been the first to identify this condition 14:19 First treatment with antibiotics 15:55 Personality change after antibiotics 19:12 Whipple's disease intestines have positive staining 20:20 Using the electron microscope in Whipple's disease 21:18 Summary and take-home 25:19 Disclosure: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter @HRheuminations @AdamJBrownMD @HealioRheum References: Bayless, TM. Adv intern Med. 1970;16:171-189. Black-Schaffer B. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1949;72:225-227. Fenollar F, et al. N Engl J Med. 2007;356:55‐66. Hendrix JP, et al. Arch Intern Med (Chic).1950;85:91-131. Morgan AD. Gut. 1961;2:370-372. Paulley JW. Gastroenterology. 1952;​22:128-133.​ Raoult D, et al. N Engl J Med. 2000;342:620-625. Relman DA, et al. N Engl J Med. 1992;327:293-301. ​ Whipple GH. Bull Johns Hopkins Hosp. 1907;18:382-391.