Doctor Barry J. Marshall is a retired gastroenterologist
from Kalgoorli, Western Australia. He was convinced that a bacterium –
specifically, Helicobacter pylori – was at least in part responsible for peptic
ulcers. Absolutely no one took him seriously. He was ridiculed by established
scientists and doctors, who refused to believe that any bacteria could live in
the acidic environment of the stomach. In 1988, Dr. Marshall said, "Everyone
was against me, but I knew I was right." So, he set out to change all their
minds. It was against the law to test his theory on human subjects, so Dr.
Marshall DRANK the bacteria himself. Within days he had developed the ulcers he’d
predicted. He then treated his own infection with antibiotics and went on to
win a Nobel prize. According to the Royal Society of Medicine, “The work of
Marshall has produced one of the most radical and important changes in medical
perception in the last fifty years.”
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