The Right Chemistry: A Growing Interest in Probiotics

The early proponents of yogurt and Mutaflor were on the right track. Since the 1990s, research on probiotics has exploded.

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Heinrich Hoffmann had contracted gonorrhea and sought the help of Theodor Morell, who had become a fashionable doctor in Berlin, treating the rich and famous with vitamins, herbs, and various extracts from animal glands. Apparently, Hoffmann was satisfied with the treatment he received because he recommended Morell to his boss, who happened to be Adolf Hitler. Hoffmann was the Fuhrer’s official photographer and a trusted member of his inner circle.

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Hitler suffered from chronic intestinal problems and was increasingly irritated by the lack of help from his doctors. He agreed to meet with Morell, who treated him with Mutaflor, a preparation that contained live bacteria. The Nazi leader was so elated by its effects that he made Morell his personal physician, to the dismay of many in his entourage. Hermann Göring, who founded the Gestapo, and Heinrich Himmler, the main architect of the Holocaust, called Morell a charlatan and opportunist.

In fact, Morell had a less than stellar history, having falsely claimed to have studied with Ilya Metchnikov, who received the 1908 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for his work on immunity. Morell had invented the connection to Metchnikov to improve his own reputation. The Ukrainian scientist had gained fame thanks to his discovery of a type of immune cell that has the ability to engulf and ingest harmful substances such as bacteria and dead or dying cells. These cells would be called “phagocytes”, from the Greek “phagein”, which means “eat”, and “cyte”, which denotes “cell”.

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In this context, Metchnikov had studied microbes in the gut and theorized that increasing the population of harmless bacteria could slow the growth of disease-causing organisms. Since all bacteria in the gut compete for the same food supply, the harmful ones would starve and end up being eaten by phagocytes. Metchnikov believed that lactic acid-producing bacteria, such as those found in sour milk, were the key to good health, and even attributed the alleged longevity of Bulgarian farmers to their consumption of yogurt. He himself drank sour milk every day, thus laying the groundwork for the use of what we now call “probiotics”, from the Latin “for life.” By definition, these are “live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer a benefit to the health of the host.”

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Professor Alfred Nissle was an infectious disease specialist who was familiar with Metchnikov’s work. In 1917, he managed to isolate a strain of the Escherichia coli bacteria from a soldier’s feces that was resistant to an epidemic of diarrhea, probably caused by the Shigella bacteria. He assumed that this strain, which would be known as “E. coli Nissle 1917 ”, was a“ probiotic ”that had displaced shigella. Nissle introduced this strain into practice as “Mutaflor”, claiming that it would treat intestinal diseases, which in fact it did with varying degrees of efficacy. This is what Morell administered to Hitler, apparently successfully.

Long before Mutaflor, people consumed probiotics through fermented foods like sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, kefir, kimchi, and yogurt. These are produced by the controlled growth of microbes such as yeast and bacteria and have historically been considered healthy due to their content of live bacteria. In the 19th century, patients with all kinds of complaints flocked to Dr. John Harvey Kellogg’s “Sanitarium” in Battle Creek, Michigan. where they would be treated with “lactic ferment”, in other words, yogurt. Kellogg was one of Metchnikov’s early disciples and extolled the virtues of lactobacilli as a means of “expelling the germs that form poison.” He advocated the administration of yogurt both orally and via enemas, “thus planting the protective germs where they are needed most and can serve most effectively.”

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Kellogg and Metchnikov, it seemed, were on the right track. Since the 1990s, research on probiotics has exploded, and the composition of bacteria in the gut, the so-called “microbiota,” is linked to type 2 diabetes, hypertension, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, colorectal cancer, obesity, and inflammatory bowel disease such as colitis, which medical historians believe was the cause of Hitler’s intestinal problems. Therefore, it is conceivable that Mutaflor could have helped him. As a result, he became dependent on all the other medications Morell suggested for his other conditions including headaches, constant colds, and insomnia.

Morell kept meticulous records on his “Patient A”. These survived the war and have been thoroughly analyzed. Between 1941 and 1945, he treated Hitler with 29 different injections and 63 types of oral tablets that included codeine, cocaine, testosterone, sulfonamide, oxycodone, strychnine, belladonna, bile extracts, morphine, and barbiturates. “Vitamultin” was Morell’s special vitamin blend produced at one of the highly profitable pharmaceutical firms he owned. When Hitler was injected with this, he claimed to feel refreshed and invigorated. Himmler, who was suspicious of Morell, secretly analyzed one of his Vitamultin pills and discovered that it contained methamphetamine.

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Many of the drugs administered by Morell have psychoactive properties and possibly contributed to Hitler’s growing paranoia, anxiety, and perhaps even some poor military decisions. One wonders how history would have been altered if Hitler had not succeeded with Mutaflor, a preparation still available today in Germany for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, chronic constipation and diarrhea in newborns. It was the relief provided by Mutaflor that led to the Nazi leader’s complete confidence in Morell and the medications he administered to him, many of which were questionable and untested. However, any suggestion that the nightmare Hitler inflicted on the world was somehow related to the drugs he was taking should be dismissed. Hitler was simply the personification of evil.

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Joe Schwarcz is Director of the Office of Science and Society at McGill University (mcgill.ca/oss). Presents The Dr. Joe Show on CJAD Radio 800 AM every Sunday from 3-4pm

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Reference-montrealgazette.com

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