Dr. I. N. Kazakov’s Miracles: Scientific and Political Controversies around Lysate Therapy

This article is devoted to the history of the lysate therapy, a method for treating various conditions (diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis, psoriasis, cancer, epilepsy, and schizophrenia) that was introduced by Dr. I. N. Kazakov. This method was based on administering lysates, the products of enzymatic lysis of the tissues of particular organs, to the organism. It was first proposed by M. P. Tushnov who believed that the lysates induced an overall surge of energy and increased working capacity, accelerated metabolism, and restored the biochemical balance of the organism. Kazakov, however, proceeded from this idea to develop a comprehensive theory of emergence and treatment of various conditions, mostly associated with the dysfunction of endocrine glands and metabolism.

The effectiveness of the lysate therapy became a topic of an animated discussion that involved the scientists, physicians and public figures. The scientific community was rather skeptical about Kazakov’s method while the Party functionaries initially supported it. The fact that of some of the government officials were treated by Kazakov at the Kremlin Hospital helped him to promote the method of lysate therapy and, for a time, protected him from the scientists’ criticisms. In 1932, State Scientific Research Institute of Metabolism and Endocrine Disorders (GNIIOVER) was organized in Moscow with Kazakov as its director. Substantial financial support allowed the Institute to considerably increase the production of lysates but Kazakov nevertheless failed to provide convincing evidence of effectiveness of his methods and the protests of the leading medical professionals and endocrinologists who regarded the lysate therapy as pseudoscientific were getting louder. In 1935, this discussion spilled over onto the pages of Pravda (the main Soviet newspaper) where it continued till January 1936 when it ended with the creation of a commission for the assessment of GNIIOVER’s scientific and practical activities. This commission that comprised the leading scientists and medical professionals was unanimous negative about Kazakov’s activities. The arrest of Kazakov on the charge of affiliation with a counterrevolutionary anti-Soviet organization on December 14, 1937 put a decisive end to the lysate therapy. Kazakov was executed by shooting on March 15, 1938.

Keywords

I. N. Kazakov, lysate therapy, organism rejuvenation, M. P. Tushnov, N. A. Shereshevskii, V. R. Menzhinskii, V. M. Molotov, the case of the Bloc of Rightists and Trotskyites

Received

29.10.2020

Publication date

28.06.2021

Number of characters

99453

Cite

GOST	Fando R. Dr. I. N. Kazakov’s “Miracles”: Scientific and Political Controversies around Lysate Therapy // Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki – 2021. – V. 42. – Issue 2 C. 258-295 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://vietmag.org/S020596060015082-2-1 (circulation date: 25.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S020596060015082-2
MLA	Fando, Roman "Dr. I. N. Kazakov’s “Miracles”: Scientific and Political Controversies around Lysate Therapy." Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 42.2 (2021):258-295. DOI: 10.31857/S020596060015082-2
APA	Fando R. (2021). Dr. I. N. Kazakov’s “Miracles”: Scientific and Political Controversies around Lysate Therapy. Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 42(2), pp.258-295 DOI: 10.31857/S020596060015082-2

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 1030

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Abarinov, V. K. (2011) Bordzhia na Lubianke [A Borgia from Lubyanka], Sovershenno sekretno, September 11, 2011 (https://web.archive.org/web/20110911164604/http://www.sovsekretno.ru/magazines/article/1329).

2. Belozerov, O. P. (2013) Mechta, stavshaia iav’iu? M. M. Zavadovskii ob endo kri no logi cheskikh metodakh omolozheniia 1920–1930-kh gg. [Dream Turned into Reality? M. M. Zavadovskii about the Endocrinological Methods of Rejuvenation in 1920s – 1930s], in: Muzrukova, E. B., and Fando, R. A. (ed.) Eksperimental’naia biologiia: stranitsy istorii [Experimental Biology: Pages of History]. Moskva: MAKS press, pp. 101–119.

3. Belozerov, O. P. (2013) Serzh Voronov: vrach, lechivshii starost’ [Serge Voronoff: A Physician Who Treated Old Age], Biologiia v shkole, no. 8, pp. 22–27.

4. Belozerov, O. P. (2016) Teoriia, stavshaia praktikoi: M. M. Zavadovskii i razrabotka me toda iskusstvennogo mnogoplodiia sel’skokhozyaistvennykh zhivotnykh [Theory Turned into Practice: M. M. Zavadovskii and the Development of a Method for Artificial Superfecundity in Livestock], Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 433–478.

5. Belozerov, O. P. (2018) Istoriia stanovleniia endokrinologii v Rossiiskoi imperii i SSSR: obzor po materialam knigi N. Krementsova “Revoliutsionnye eksperimenty” [The History of the Making of Endocrinology in the Russian Empire and in the USSR: A Review Based on the Materials from N. Kremetsov’s Book “Revolutionary Experiments”], Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 786–810.

6. Bolotovskii, M. (2012) Lekarstvo ot starosti [A Medicine Against Old Age], Nash Tekhas], February 23, 2012 (https://web.archive.org/web/20120627083109/http://www.ourtx.com/issue-310/6352).

7. Conroy, M. S. (1994) In Health and in Sickness: Pharmacy, Pharmacists, and the Pharma ceutical Industry in Late Imperial, Early Soviet Russia. New York: Columbia University Press.

8. Conroy, M. S. (2006) The Soviet Pharmaceutical Business during Its First Two Decades (1917–1937). New York: Peter Lang.

9. Gazenko, G. G. (1936) Chto proiskhodit v institute Kazakova? [What’s Going on at Kazakov’s Institute?], Pravda, January 7, no. 7, p. 4.

10. Hamilton, D. (1986) The Monkey Gland Affair. London: Chatto & Windus.

11. Ivanova, N. D. (2010) 125 let so dnia rozhdeniia Nikolaia Adol’fovicha Shereshevskogo [The 125 th Anniversary of the Birth of Nikolai Adol’fovich Shereshevskii], Sakharnyi diabet, no. 3, pp. 153–154.

12. Ivanova, N. D. (2013) Shervinskii Vasilii Dmitrievich – russkii vrach, uchenyi, terapevt i patolog, zasluzhennyi deiatel’ nauki RSFSR i osnovopolozhnik russkoi endokrinologii [Vasily Shervinsky, a Russian Physician, Scientist, Therapeutist, and Pathologist, Honoured Scientist of the RSFSR and the Founder of Russian Endocrinology], Sakharnyi diabet, no. 2, pp. 94–96.

13. Katkovskii, S. B., and Preobrazhenskii, A. P. (1936) Organopreparaty i ikh primenenie.Gormonal’nye preparaty, lizaty, vitaminy [Organ Preparations and Their Use. Hormonal Preparations, Lysates, Vitamins]. Moskva and Leningrad: Biomedgiz.

14. Kazakov, I. N. (1935) Uporstvuiushchie konservatory [Obstinate Conservatives], Pravda, December 12, no. 341, p. 4.

15. Kazakov, I. N. (1932) Novyi metod lecheniia (lizatoterapiia) [A New Treatment Method (Lysate Therapy), Izvestiia, November 4, no. 306, p. 2.

16. Kazakov, I. N. (1932) Novyi metod lecheniia (lizatoterapiia) [A New Method of Treatment (Lysate Therapy), Izvestiia, November 5, no. 307, p. 2.

17. Kazakov, I. N. (1934) Klinika lizatoterapii [Lysate Therapy Clinic], in: Kazakov, I. N. (ed.) Trudy Nauchno-issledovatel’skogo instituta obmena veshchestv i endokrinnykh rasstroistv NKZ RSFSR [Proceedings of Scientific-Research Institute of Metabolism and Endocrine Disorders of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic People’s Commissariat of Health], no. 1, pp. 85–399.

18. Kazakov, I. N. (1934) Osnovnye printsipy lizatoterapii [Basic Principles of Lysate Thera py], in: Kazakov, I. N. (ed.) Trudy Nauchno-issledovatel’skogo instituta obmena vesh chestv i endokrinnykh rasstroistv NKZ RSFSR [Proceedings of Scientific-Research Institute of Metabolism and Endocrine Disorders of RSFSR People’s Commissariat of Health], no. 1, pp. 6–83.

19. Kazakov, I. N. (ed.) (1934) Teoriia i praktika lizatoterapii po metodu doktora Kazakova [Theory and Practice of Lysate Therapy According the Method of Doctor Kazakov]. Moskva and Leningrad: Medgiz.

20. Krementsov, N. L. (2008) Hormones and the Bolsheviks: From Organotherapy to Experimental Endocrinology, 1918–1929, Isis, vol. 99, no. 3, pp. 486–518.

21. Krementsov, N. L. (2014) Revolutionary Experiments. The Quest for Immortality in Bolshevik Science and Fiction. New York: Oxford University Press.

22. Landsteiner, K. (1899) Zur Kenntnis der spezifisch auf Blut Kӧrperchen wirkenden Sera, Zentralblatt f ü r Bakteriologie, vol. 25, no. 16, pp. 546–549.

23. London, E. S. (1901) K ucheniiu o spermatolizinakh (pervoe soobshchenie) [Towards the Doctrine of Spermatolysins (The First Communication)], Arkhiv biologicheskikh nauk, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 82–129.

24. London, E. S. (1901) K ucheniu o spermatolizinakh (vtoroe soobshchenie) [Towards the Doctrine of Spermatolysins (The Second Communication)], Arkhiv biologicheskikh nauk, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 167–208.

25. Metalnikoff, S. J. (1900) Etudes sur la spermatoxine, Annales de l’Institut Pasteur, vol. 14, no. 9, pp. 577–589.

26. Metchnikoff, É . (1899) Etudes sur la r é soption des cellules, Annales de l’Institute Pasteur, vol. 13, no. 10, pp. 737–769.

27. Metchnikoff, É . (1900) Recherches sur l’influence de les toxines: sur la spermotoxine et l’antispermotoxine, Annales de l’Institute Pasteur, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 1–12.

28. Metchnikoff, É . (1900) Sur les cytotoxines, Annales de l’Institute Pasteur, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 369–377.

29. Rapoport, Ia. L. (2017) “Delo vrachei” 1953 goda. Pokazaniia obviniaemogo [“The Case of the Physicians” in 1953. The Testimony of the Accused]. Moskva: Algoritm. Real, J. (2001) Voronoff. Paris: Stock.

30. Rossiiskii, D. M. (1926) Ocherk istorii razvitiia endokrinologii v Rossii [An Essay on the History of Endocrinology in Russia]. Moskva.

31. Rumiantsev, A. V. (1935) Zasekrechennye metody doktora Kazakova [The Classified Methods of Doctor Kazakov], Pravda, December 23, no. 352, p. 4.

32. Shereshevskii, A. N. (1935) Chudesa doktora Kazakova [The Miracles of Doctor Kazakov], Pravda, November 29, no. 328, p. 4.

33. Shereshevskii, A. N. (1936) Lizatoterapiia i gravidanoterapiia [Lysate Therapy and Gravidan therapy], in: Shereshevskii, A. N., Steppun, O. A., and Rumiantsev, A. V. Osnovy endokrinologii. Uchenie o vnutrennei sekretsii i klinika zabolevanii endokrinnoi sistemy [Fundamentals of Endocrinology. The Doctrine of Internal Secretion and the Treatment of the Endocrine System Diseases]. Moskva and Lenigrad: Biomedgiz, pp. 575–578.

34. Shereshevskii, N. A. (1936) Voprosy lizatoterapii [Problems of Lysate Therapy], in: Grossman, Ia. L. (ed.) Problemy teoreticheskoi i prakticheskoi meditsiny [Problems of Theoretical and Practical Medicine]. Moskva and Lenigrad: Biomedgiz, pp. 198–206.

35. Steppun, O. A. (1935) Propovednik lzhenauki [A Preacher of Pseudoscience], Pravda, December 14, no. 343, p. 4.

36. Sudebnyi otchet po delu antisovetskogo “pravo-trotskistskogo bloka” [The Court Report on the Case of the Anti-Soviet “Rightist-Trotskyist Bloc”] (1938), Moskva: Iuridicheskoe izdatel’stvo Narodnogo komissariata iustitsii SSSR.

37. Tushnov, M. P. (1911) Deistvie spermotoksinov na organizm samki i iaitso [The Action of Spermotoxins on the Female Organism and the Egg]. Kazan’: Tipografiia D. M. Grans. Tushnov, M. P. (1914) K biologii spermotoksinov [Towards the Biology of Spermotoxins], Uchenye zapiski Kazanskogo veterinarnogo instituta, vol. 31. pp. 399–429.

38. Tushnov, M. P. (1924) Spermotoksiny i ikh rol’ v fiziologii i patologii organizma [Spermo toxins and Their Role in Physiology and Pathology of the Organism], Kazanskii meditsinskii zhurnal, no. 2, pp. 196–202.

39. Tushnov, M. P. (1938) Lechenie i potentsirovanie organizma pri pomoshchi gistolizatov [Treatment and Potentiation of the Organism with Histolysates], in: Problemy spermotoksinov i lizatov. Sbornik nauchnykh trudov [The Problems of Spermotoxins and Lysates. A Collection of Scientific Papers]. Moskva: Sel’khozgiz, pp. 280–298.

40. Tushnov, M. P. (1938) Novyi sposob tak nazyvaemogo omolozheniia organizmov [A New Method of the So-Called Rejuvenation of Organisms], in: Zavadovskii, B. M., and Viktorov, K. R. (eds.) Problemy spermotoksinov i lizatov. Sbornik nauchnykh trudov [The Problems of Spermotoxins and Lysates. A Collection of Scientific Papers]. Moskva: Sel’khozgiz, pp. 266–279.