Injected Sperminum-Poehl is an effective treatment for senile debility, neurasthenia, convalescent exhaustion, and male sexual weakness, across a range of conditions reported as treated successfully.
The clinical-indications claim is the commercial face of the theory: Sperminum-Poehl marketed as a physician-prescribed organotherapeutic for senile debility, neurasthenia, convalescence, and male sexual complaints. The 1898 monograph reported numerous treated cases as apparent successes (per Mann’s survey, ranging from scurvy to syphilis), all uncontrolled case series in Poehl’s own literature. The claim is refuted: the reported cures rested on testimonial case reporting without controlled comparison, and Poehl’s pharmacological and clinical work was finally rejected (Mann, The Biochemistry of Semen, 1954). The evidence for therapeutic efficacy is insufficient by any controlled standard.
Appears in
Sources
- Die physiologisch-chemischen Grundlagen der Spermintheorie, nebst klinischem Material zur therapeutischen Verwendung des Sperminum-Poehl — Poehl, Alexander. *Die physiologisch-chemischen Grundlagen der Spermintheorie: nebst klinischem Material zur therapeutischen Verwendung des Sperminum-Poehl* (uebersetzt aus dem Russischen). St. Petersburg: A. Wienecke, 1898.
- Rational organotherapy: with reference to urosemiology — Poehl, A. von [and others]. *Rational organotherapy: with reference to urosemiology*. London: J. & A. Churchill, 1906.
- The Biochemistry of Semen — Mann, Thaddeus. *The Biochemistry of Semen*. London: Methuen; New York: Wiley, 1954, pp. 161-162.