The history of scientists self-experimenting is filled with fascinating stories. In 1799, a young English chemist, Humphry Davy, later Sir Humphry, discovered “laughing gas” by inhaling nitrous oxide in a sealed box. In the late 1800s, German surgeon August Bier tested spinal anesthesia by injecting himself with cocaine. In the 1940s, American virologist and medical researcher Dr. Jonas Edward Salk, developing a polio vaccine, tested it on himself and his family, leading to their successful immunization. In 1984 Australian physician Barry James Marshall drank Helicobacter pylori bacteria to prove it caused stomach ulcers and won a Nobel Prize for his discovery. In 2004, English immunologist David Pritchard tested his theory that parasites could boost the immune system by allowing hookworm larvae to infiltrate his body.
Two such remarkable stories are also linked to breakthroughs in pulmonary hypertension care.
Right Heart Catheterization (RHC) is the golden standard for diagnosing pulmonary hypertension. German physician Werner Forssmann had seen a photo showing how a tube was inserted into the heart of a horse through a vein. A balloon at the other end of the tube showed the changes in pressure. Forssmann was convinced that a similar experiment could be carried out on humans. in 1929 Forsmann defied his boss’s orders and tested it on himself. He inserted a catheter through his arm vein into his heart and took an X-ray, pioneering many heart studies. For this, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1956.
In 1977 Polish Immunologist and academic Prof. Andrzej Szczeklik injected prostacyclin into himself and his colleague Ryszard Gryglewski. In his book Catharsis: the Art of Medicine he vividly describes the first test of the drug in themselves at the Hospital of Cracow using a sample of the molecule synthesized by Polish organic chemist Joseph Fried, and how he was affected with high fever after the intravenous infusion (the prostacyclin was contaminated by bacteria) and how Gryglewski lost consciousness (because of the massive vasodilation and the lowering of blood pressure). He conducted further experiments on himself without any complications. Today, as we know, analogs of prostacyclin are routinely used for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Szczeklik was also a writer, musician, lover of the arts and a man who practiced medicine as a humanitarian art.
Our comment
Prof. Forssman has been heavily criticised for his adherence to the Nazi Party, but it appears that he gradually changed to a more critical distance to the Nazi ideology after the war.
I had the honour and pleasure to meet Prof. Szczeklik many years ago in Warsaw at a congress and listen to his presentation about the self-administration of prostacyclin, done with great lightness and humour. He also gifted me with his wonderful book, Catharsis: the Art of Medicine.
Sources
Humphry Davy: Humphry Davy, laughing gas and the era of self-experimentation, The Open University, 3 February 2017
Barry James Marshall: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2005
David Pritchard: The Worms Crawl In, New York Times, Elizabeth Svoboda, July 1, 2008
Andrzej Szczeklik: Prof. Andrzej Szczeklik, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Prostacyclin among prostanoids, Ryszard J. Gryglewski, Pharmacological reports, 2008
10 Scientists Who Experimented on Themselves, Mental Floss, Laura Turner Garrison, May 7, 2021