Please confirm that you would like to log out of Medscape.
If you log out, you will be required to enter your username and password the next time you visit.
Log outCancel
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020
| Contributor Information
Swipe to advance
Image from Nancy Kaye / AP / Shutterstock
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020 | Contributor Information
Christiaan Barnard: Heart Surgeon With Stiff Hands
He was the first to successfully transplant a human heart, in December 1967. But what nobody knew was that Christiaan Barnard (1922-2001) had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in his mid-thirties.
During the second heart transplant surgery in 1968, Barnard suffered a severe flare with painful swelling in his fingers and hands, making it difficult for him to connect the heart-lung machine. It almost led to a catastrophe: Barnard inadvertently ripped the line from the patient's aorta. But the surgery was ultimately a success, and the patient lived more than a year with a good quality of life.
While attempting to manage his own pain, Barnard started overusing analgesics, which led to gastrointestinal bleeding and severe anemia. He tried the therapies that were available at the time, ranging from corticosteroids to gold, penicillamine, and chloroquine. He even experimented with 'fresh cell therapy' in Switzerland. In 1983, the surgeon stopped practicing.
This story and that of 99 other well-known people from around the world are described in my book, Der prominente Patient (The Illustrious Patient). This slideshow presents a selection of famous doctors, scientists, philosophers, and politicians.
Image from Ian Dagnall Computing / Alamy
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020 | Contributor Information
Marie Curie: Fascinated by the Fairy Lights
Marie Curie (1867-1934) won two Nobel Prizes, co-discovered the chemical elements polonium and radium with her husband Pierre, and coined the term 'radioactivity.' For decades, she handled highly radioactive substances without protection.
In the primitive shack that they were assigned as their laboratory, Marie and Pierre Curie were exposed to high concentrations of radioactive radon that exceeded today's legal limits by a hundredfold. The little bottles and vials that glowed in the dark looked 'like tiny fairy lights,' Marie Curie said.
While she was still in her early thirties, Marie Curie developed chronic radiation syndrome. But she kept working into her sixties, up to 14 hours a day. She ignored safety precautions as well as fever, exhaustion, and festering burn wounds on her hands.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020 | Contributor Information
Albert Einstein: Appearance and Reality – The Einstein Sign
To this day, the 'Einstein sign' signals that the symptoms of an abdominal aortic aneurysm are often difficult to interpret. But it's a myth that Albert Einstein (1879-1955) died because a gall bladder stone and an aortic aneurysm were mistaken for one another.
In 1948, Einstein underwent an explorative laparotomy after complaining for years about stomach issues and vomiting. The surgeon discovered a grapefruit-sized abdominal aortic aneurysm. He wrapped it in cellophane, which was meant to provoke fibrotic scarring and stabilize the walls of the aorta. In 1954, Einstein increasingly began to experience back and stomach pains in the right epigastrium, which were seen as signs of 'chronic cholecystitis.'
But when Einstein suffered another bout of severe stomach pain in 1955, it became clear: The aneurysm was about to burst. The physicist decided against another surgery. 'I've done my part, it's time to go. I'll do it with elegance,' he said.
Image from in camera stock / Alamy
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020 | Contributor Information
Martin Luther: 'Punches to the Body'
The German theologian suffered from bouts of tinnitus and vertigo that could last for weeks, as well as from severe head and stomach pains. In his letters, Martin Luther (1483-1546) spared no details of his bodily functions: 'My stools are so hard that I have to force them out with all my might until I'm drenched in sweat,' he wrote to a friend.
When a stone caused a bout of urinary retention that lasted for days, it almost killed him. Even a potion brewed from horse manure and garlic — a home remedy of his wife Katharina — didn't work.
Then there were days when he felt 'an awful buzzing and roaring' in his head, which greatly scared him: 'I thought it was the black, ragged fellow from hell, who doesn't like me on Earth.' He described his ailments as 'satanic punches to the body.' He probably suffered from Meniere disease, which can have persistent effects on mood.
Image from The History Collection / Alamy
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020 | Contributor Information
King Edward VII: A Delayed Coronation
It took 61 years before Albert Edward (1841-1910), the oldest son of the British Queen Victoria, could finally ascend to his mother's throne as Edward VII. The coronation was scheduled for June 26, 1920, but he began having abdominal pains and felt weak and tired.
The well-known surgeon Sir Frederick Treves examined Edward 2 days before the planned event. His verdict: appendicitis. Edward needed surgery, but he vehemently refused. 'There's going to be a funeral if you don't get the operation,' Treves reportedly said. (Some historians attribute this statement instead to Lord Joseph Lister, the father of antiseptic surgery.)
Back then, appendicitis was life-threatening. About 50% of patients died after the mostly (too) late surgery. Long story short: Treves and Lister drained the abscess. Just 1 day later, Edward could already be found having a smoke in his bed again. He was crowned 2 weeks later, on August 9, 1902, and ruled for another 8 years.
Image from Alamy
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020 | Contributor Information
Frederick III: A Chronically Hoarse, Then Quiet, Emperor
Emperor Frederick III (1831-1888) was already unable to speak when he ascended to the throne, due to a tracheal tube (he was known as the 'quiet' emperor). A heavy pipe smoker, he began complaining about a permanent dry hoarseness a year before his coronation. A laryngoscopy revealed a small polyp on his vocal cords, which was ruled harmless.
Several attempts to remove the polyp were futile; it always grew back. Eventually, a biopsy revealed that it was laryngeal cancer.
Frederick rejected the idea of a total laryngectomy and only consented to a tracheotomy. In 1888, Wilhelm I died at an advanced age and the seriously ill Frederick became Emperor of Germany. He died just 99 days later, probably from aspiration pneumonia. His 29-year-old son Wilhelm II succeeded him on the throne, and the year 1888 became known as the 'Year of the Three Emperors' in German history books.
Image from Chronicle / Alamy
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020 | Contributor Information
Wilhelm II: Birth Trauma With Consequences
The birth of Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, later known as Wilhelm II (1859-1941) was dramatic. His mother was the then 18-year-old crown princess Victoria, and it had been missed that the baby was breech. This became apparent only during labor.
The head of the maternity ward pulled the baby out by his left arm with great effort, as the mother had been anesthetized with chloroform. Several days later, they noticed that his arm was paralyzed, probably due to Erb-Duchenne palsy with a lesion on the brachial plexus.
Throughout Friedrich Wilhelm's childhood, attempts were made to reactivate the arm: 'spiritual ablutions,' rubs, 'animalistic baths' (in which the arm was inserted into freshly shot and slaughtered rabbits), rigorous physical therapy, a stretching apparatus, and frames that immobilized the shoulder and pelvis.
For 10 years, the boy's arm was treated with electrical stimulation, using alternating and galvanic currents. Of course, none of these things helped. By adulthood, the left arm was 6 inches shorter than the right. Historian John C. G. Röhl has suggested that the treatments amounted to massive child abuse, which may have contributed to a major personality disorder.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020 | Contributor Information
John F. Kennedy: Suspected Case of Schmidt Syndrome
Even though 43-year-old John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) appeared young and fit when he moved into the White House in Washington, DC, he was seriously ill. Back pain made him unable to put on socks and shoes on his own, probably due to massive overdoses of glucocorticoids, then still new.
He took these medications for chronic digestive issues, which had plagued him since he was 13 years old but were only much later diagnosed as colitis. The drugs provoked a secondary osteoporosis with lumbar compression fractures and constant back pain.
In addition, he had been diagnosed with chronic adrenal insufficiency (Addison disease) in 1947. According to a new hypothesis, Kennedy may have suffered from a polyglandular syndrome type 2 (APS-2), also known as Schmidt syndrome.
It is characterized by parallel endocrine disorders which often manifest primarily through Addison disease, combined with other disorders. APS-2 typically develops in early adulthood. Other clues: Kennedy's sister Eunice also suffered from Addison disease, and his son John F. Kennedy Jr. had Graves disease.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020 | Contributor Information
Napoleon Bonaparte: Wiry Beau Turned Sleepyhead
Until his early thirties, Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a wiry man with hair that fell to his shoulders. But by age 36, his appearance had changed drastically: He became increasingly portly and lethargic, the features of his face softened, his hair thinned, and his hips widened — signs of feminization.
After the Battle of Dresden in August 1813, he did little more than sleep for almost an entire month. His peers described a man whose speech slowed and who had trouble concentrating. His doctor would later report that Napoleon had little body hair and an 'ample, round bosom.'
All of these changes as well as the findings of his autopsy hint at an acquired hyperpituitarism, possibly caused by a traumatic disruption of the blood supply after an accident in 1803.
Image from Mariano Garcia / Alamy
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020 | Contributor Information
Eva Perón: 'Top Secret' Diagnosis
María Eva Duarte de Perón (1919-1952), known as Evita, was in her early thirties when she developed cervical cancer. She is pictured here in the hospital in 1951. The former model and actress never knew her true diagnosis, as cancer was still a taboo subject. Her husband Juan Domingo Perón's political ambitions might have played a role as well. The two-term president of Argentina used his wife's popularity to stay in power.
Twice, a specialist flew in from New York, first to exam Eva Perón under anesthesia and then again to perform surgery on her. Each time she was asleep before he entered the operating room.
Radiation therapy was followed by a hysterectomy, but the cancer was already advanced and had metastasized.
Perón underwent chemotherapy to treat her coughing and dyspnea, caused by metastasized lung tumors. Toward the end, several German physicians were flown in as well, but there was nothing more to do. She died at 33 years young.
Image from Alamy
Hidden Diagnoses: From Einstein to Luther, JFK to Evita
Thomas Meissner, MD | November 20, 2020 | Contributor Information
Eleanor Roosevelt: Too Busy to Be Sick
For decades, Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, wielded a high degree of political influence in the United States — both while her husband was president and after he left office. She had little patience for illnesses, be they her own or others'. She ignored ailments and believed that an iron will could defeat any disease.
In 1960, her doctor diagnosed her with mild anemia and leukopenia. A lumbar puncture revealed a hypercellular marrow with a significant number of immature cells. Hematologists diagnosed 'aplastic anemia.' Another physician postulated a reactivation of tuberculosis that had become bone marrow tuberculosis. But the hematologists stuck to their diagnosis and kept treating her with prednisone.
Her death was agonizingly slow. Near the end, her doctors revived her when her heart stopped, despite an unfavorable prognosis that included an intracardiac adrenaline injection. The autopsy affirmed disseminated tuberculosis as well as aplastic anemia, which might also have been myelodysplastic syndrome, based on today's knowledge.
Commenting is limited to medical professionals. To comment please Log-in.
Comments on Medscape are moderated and should be professional in tone and on topic. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. Please see our Commenting Guide for further information. We reserve the right to remove posts at our sole discretion.
Comments on Medscape are moderated and should be professional in tone and on topic. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. Please see our Commenting Guide for further information. We reserve the right to remove posts at our sole discretion.
Close
Contributor Information
Thomas Meissner, MD
Medical journalist
Disclosure: Thomas Meissner, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Close
References
Close
Image Zoom
Close
Feedback
Please do not use this form to submit personal or patient medical information or to report adverse drug events. You are encouraged to report adverse drug event information to the FDA.
Comments