New DNA analysis has found evidence of a disease that still haunts humanity to this day, exonerating the great composer’s personal physician Ludwig van Beethoven.
Several years ago, a team of scientists analyzed Beethoven’s hair samples and revealed what many called the “shocking secret” of his death: They assumed the composer died from lead poisoning. , due to the doctor’s error in the treatment process. However, new research has proven otherwise.
According to Live Science, more specific genetic analysis of five locks of Beethoven’s memorabilia found evidence that he had hepatitis B , a disease that still plagues many people in modern times.
Portrait of genius composer Beethoven – (Picture: Painter Joseph Karl Stieler, 1802).
This also helps to explain more specifically the health problems that the composer encountered in the last years of his life. The previous lead poisoning hypothesis was unable to shed light on why Beethoven was deaf.
The claim has just been made in a paper published in the scientific journal Current Biology.
“We can’t say for sure what caused Beethoven’s death, but we at least confirmed the presence of a significant genetic risk and hepatitis B infection. We also removed some of the factors that were not known. other less plausible,” said co-author Johannes Krause, professor of genetics from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Germany).
The genetic cause that is thought to aggravate the composer’s poor health is hemochromatosis , which is characterized by an excessive accumulation of iron leading to liver disorders, cardiomyopathy, diabetes… The composer was also an alcoholic.
Plus the hepatitis B virus, all could constitute a death sentence for him.
The composer born in 1770 began to lose his hearing in his mid to late 20s and 30s, then became completely deaf in his late 40s. He was also plagued by severe gastrointestinal problems, experiencing through at least 2 episodes of jaundice… are symptoms that point directly to liver disease.
In 1802, when the disease became very serious, Beethoven asked his friend, doctor Johann Adam Schmidt, to examine, diagnose and make the disease public. However, Mr. Schimdt died 18 years before Beethoven, so he was treated by other doctors after that.
After Beethoven’s death in 1827, an autopsy revealed he had severe cirrhosis of the liver.