The Role of Sulfa Drugs in our Life

Abstract

Gerhardt Dumac discovered in 1932 that Prontosyl kills bacteria while testing dyes, and in 1934, he began using Prontosyl as a treatment. This was in Germany, and experiments in France showed that the effect of Prontosyl is due to the presence of sulfanilamide in it. In 1908, Gelmo was the first to attend a sulfa drug conference in Germany. Sulfanilamide's medicinal usefulness was endorsed in 1936 by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, including Long and Plus, Marshall, and others. Sulfa drugs are used to treat a range of diseases caused by bacteria, with which it has been possible to save countless lives. It is believed that the effect of sulfa is to stop the growth of bacteria, meaning that these drugs prevent the growth and reproduction of bacteria, which creates an opportunity for the body's defensive forces to eliminate them. Humans are currently treated with sulfonamides for specific disorders, such as urinary system infections. However, sulfonamides are more typically seen in veterinary medicine. Therefore we attempted to explain the role and importance of sulfa drugs in our lives because of their widespread use in medical therapy.