2024-02-25 10:42:51
Retrato de Beethoven del pintor Joseph Karl Stieler (1819)
Sometimes science achieves something more like science fiction. Almost 200 years later, scientists have discovered the true cause of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death thanks to his hair. Through the genetic analysis of several strands of hair, a team of international researchers has shown that his death was most likely due to a hepatitis B infection, aggravated by alcohol consumption and other habits that risk the disease.
C. Amanda Osuna
This advance disproves the last theory that, until now, was considered true. In 2007, a forensic investigation analyzed an alleged lock of hair belonging to the musician and suggested that death was due to lead poisoning. The truth is that it was not unreasonable, since many of the medical treatments that were used then contained this metal. This theory has faded once recent research has shown that this hair did not belong to the German genius, but to an anonymous woman.
The research has been led by the University of Cambridge and the University Hospital of Bonn and published in the journal Current Biology, where they have attempted to shed more light on Beethoven’s health. A study that complies with the last will of the composer, who asked his brothers to make known the details of his condition and his death so that he might be better understood both from a medical and personal level.
And this musical genius not only suffered hearing problems – to the point of completely losing his hearing – but also suffered from gastrointestinal complications practically his entire life. From the age of 22, Beethoven suffered severe abdominal pain and chronic attacks of diarrhea that accompanied him until his death on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56. However, analysis of his hair has not been able to decipher the origin of these gastrointestinal problems.
The tragic irony of the musician
It is part of general wisdom: Beethoven was deaf. It is, perhaps, the greatest and cruelest irony that a musician can face. In fact, in one of his letters, the German confessed to feeling “desperately afflicted,” which led him to experience depressive episodes. Beethoven’s hearing loss began following his 20s, with tinnitus, which appears as ringing or ringing in the ears.
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