Claim:
Adolf Hitler suffered from a digestive disorder that often caused him to fart.
Rating:
For years, a rumor has circulated that Adolf Hitler suffered from a digestive problem that caused him to often have flatulence. The claim has appeared on Reddit for at least 13 years, and a post published in early 2024 included details of the medical treatment he received:
This post has been upvoted 29,000 times and received 1,500 comments as of this writing. The rumor also spread on X (formerly Twitter) from 2011 (archive), And Many times in the years Since SO.
This statement is true. In a secret file made public in 2009 in England, one of Hitler’s aides wrote that he had terrible table manners. The document also made reference to his digestive problems.
Other scientific sources have made reference to his gastrointestinal problems, including a 2005 article in the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, which stated that it appeared to be an ongoing problem:
According to his own account, since his childhood, he suffered from recurrent attacks of abdominal colic alternating with diarrhea and constipation, as well as what he described as “gas, clearly linked to episodes of stress or crisis” . Clinical features suggest spastic bowel syndrome or irritable bowel syndrome, but such terms do not appear in the records.
Hitler was also a hypochondriac, obsessed with dying young. For this reason, he took his personal doctor wherever he went. The doctor, Theodor Morell, reportedly used unorthodox treatments that likely affected Hitler’s mood and ability to think rationally, particularly toward the end of World War II. This has led some historians to hypothesize that the illness and subsequent treatment hastened the demise of Nazi Germany, according to Daven Hiskey of the Highlight History YouTube channel.
The treatment consisted in part of Mutaflor tablets, a drug that still exists today. The tablets are “enteric-coated,” meaning they only dissolve once they reach the intestine, and they contain a “non-pathogenic strain of E. coli.” coli”. Morell also administered atropine and strychnine pills known as Dr. Koster’s Antigaspills.
He also gave Hitler cocaine eye and nose drops, daily injections of methamphetamines, opioids, glucose, testosterone, estradiol (which mimics the female hormone estrogen), and steroids. The newspaper article includes a complete list of medications Hitler received while in Morell’s custody.
In the secret file found and published in 2009, the aide also mentioned Hitler’s poor eating habits. Quoting the aide, a Daily Mail article reported:
Hitler ate prodigious amounts of cake (this cake consumption was responsible for a slight digestive upset and the addition of a bay window to his already not-so-lucky figure).
The file should have been destroyed shortly after Hitler’s death.
Sources:
“Adolf Hitler had poor table manners and suffered from flatulence.” The telegraphFebruary 17, 2009, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4678840/Adolf-Hitler-had-poor-table-manners-and-suffered-flatulence.html.
Doyle, D. “Hitler’s Medical Care.” The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, No. 35, 2005, pp. 75-82, https://antville.org/static/sites/infam/files/hitlers_medical_care.pdf.
Beckers, Milan et al. “Berlin Intestinal Troubles: Could Adolf Hitler’s Intestinal Problems Be Linked to Parkinson’s Disease?”. » European Neurology, flight. 86, no. 3, July 2023, p. 222-27. Silver chairhttps://doi.org/10.1159/000530166.
Highlight history. How Hitler’s Flatulence Defeated Nazi Germany. 2023. Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gt6fHJ4Vw0.
Preskar, Pierre. “Adolf Hitler farted like a horse.” AVERAGEMay 5, 2021, https://short-history.com/adolf-hitler-farting-b7e27477971b.
Salkeld, Luc. “Hitler had shocking table manners, gorged on cake and suffered from flatulence, reveals never before seen profile.” Online mailFebruary 17, 2009, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1147744/Hitler-shocking-table-manners-gorged-cake-suffered-flatulence-reveals-seen-profile.html.
Zhang, Lisai et al. “Meteorism”. StatPearlsStatPearls Editions, 2024. PubMedhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430851/.
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