Beethoven probably did not die of lead poisoning, new DNA analysis reveals

Last year, researchers sequenced the genome of famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven for the first time, based on authenticated strands of hair. The same team analyzed two of the locks for toxic substances and found extremely high levels of lead, as well as arsenic and mercury, according to a recent letter published in the journal Clinical Chemistry.

“This clearly shows that Beethoven was exposed to high concentrations of lead,” Paul Janetto, co-author and director of the department of laboratory medicine and pathology at the Mayo Clinic, told the New York Times. “These are the highest hair values ​​I have ever seen. We receive samples from all over the world, and these values ​​are an order of magnitude higher. That said, the authors concluded that exposure to lead was not enough to kill the composer, although Beethoven most likely suffered adverse health effects.

As previously noted, Beethoven was plagued throughout his life by a myriad of health problems. The composer began losing his hearing in his mid-to-late 20s, including tinnitus and loss of high frequencies. He claimed that the beginning of the crisis began with a seizure in 1798 caused by an argument with a singer. By his mid-forties, he was functionally deaf and unable to perform public concerts, although he could still compose music.

Beethoven also suffered from chronic gastric illnesses throughout his life, including persistent abdominal pain and prolonged diarrhea. In 1821, the composer showed signs of liver disease, marked by the first of two serious attacks of jaundice. These issues certainly affected his career and emotional state, so much so that Beethoven requested – via a letter to his brothers – that his favorite doctor examine his body after his death to determine the cause of all his suffering.

By December 1826, Beethoven was very ill, suffering a second attack of jaundice and swollen limbs, fever, dropsy, and difficulty breathing. His doctor performed several operations to remove excess fluid from the composer’s abdomen. On March 24, 1827, he said to visitors: “Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est” (“Applause, friends, the comedy is over”). Two days later he died. According to his friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, who was present, lightning and a loud clap of thunder briefly woke Beethoven, who “opened his eyes, raised his right hand and looked up for several seconds with his fist clenched… not another breath , not another heartbeat.”

An autopsy identified severe liver damage (evidence of cirrhosis) as the likely cause of death and significant dilatation of the auditory nerve. But what caused his liver damage or his hearing loss – or his chronic stomach aches, for that matter? Medical detectives have debated possible causes for nearly two centuries, relying on the composer’s letters, diaries and doctors’ notes, as well as reports of skeletal remains dating to the exhumation of his body in 1863 and 1888. But no general consensus has emerged. .