You want to talk about problems with changes to accepted theory being accepted, read about the history of the fight over Heliobacter pylori causing ulcers.
I cannot remember which one did it, but he got so pissed he drank a solution of the bacteria and gave himself ulcers, which he proceeded to cure via antibiotics! However, and interesting point here is the most physicians are not scientists, they are applied technicians. Scientifically trained, but technicians none-the-less. I don't know how quickly the Microbiologists accepted the new data and the changed paradigm.
Then, in 1984, physicians Warren and Marshall from Australia claimed that peptic ulcer disease was not caused merely by overproduction of gastric acid, but rather by a specific bacterium: Helicobacter pylori, to be specific. They recommended antibiotic therapy. Believe me, they were ridiculed by the medical establishment. I recall my colleagues, and even my own physician-husband, scoffing at the idea of peptic ulcers being an infectious disease. For the next thirteen years, most of the “medical mainstream” refused to let go of their calcified notion that the only treatment for ulcers was to combat gastric acid secretion. After all, that was what we all learned in medical school. Therefore, it had to be the truth!
Comment