Beethoven´s illnesses and a craniovertebral junction variant? / As doenças de Beethoven e variante da junção craniovertebral?

Ludwig van Beethoven, the great composer, born 250 years ago, had several health problems and a progressive hearing loss. Gastrointestinal symptoms prevailed among his physical complaints, but there were also frequent headaches, eye pain, and polyarthralgia. Likewise, there are many reports about his alcohol intake and frequent walks. There were also peculiar behavioral and awkward physical aspects of the famous composer. All may take part as a determinant for the communicative aspects of his music. Spite Beethoven's corporal structure could be considered just a developmental variant, it can also be congenitally related to many bone-nervous abnormalities such as craniovertebral junction malformation with interference in the Genius' health. In reality, it is almost impossible to cover Beethoven's entire health problem with just one underlying disease. Most likely, he had comorbidities, one of which, although not fatal, was that related to abnormalities in the development of the skull and cervical spine worsened by a baseline autoimmune disorders that injured joints, and maybe even the VIII cranial nerve and inner ear.

Ludwig van Beethoven, o grande compositor, nascido há 250 anos, teve vários problemas de saúde e uma perda auditiva progressiva. Os sintomas gastrointestinais prevaleceram entre suas queixas físicas, mas também houve frequentes episódios de cefaleia, dores nos olhos e poliartralgia. Da mesma forma, há muitos relatos sobre sua ingestão de álcool e caminhadas frequentes. Havia também aspectos físicos peculiares e estranhos do famoso compositor. Todos podem tomar parte como um determinante para os aspectos comunicativos de sua música. Apesar da estrutura corporal de Beethoven poder ser considerada apenas uma variante de desenvolvimento, pode também estar relacionada a algumas anormalidades ósseo- neural, tais como a malformação da junção craniovertebral com interferência na saúde do Gênio. Na realidade, é quase impossível cobrir todo o problema de saúde de Beethoven com apenas uma doença subjacente. Muito provavelmente, ele tinha comorbidades, uma das quais, embora não fatal, era aquela relacionada a anormalidades no desenvolvimento do crânio e da coluna cervical agravadas por uma desordem auto-imune de base que lesionava as articulações, e talvez até o VIII nervo craniano e o ouvido interno.

From Mid 16th Century French Court to End 18th Century Danish Court: The Fatal Power of the Mammillary Process.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Two Royal events marked the history of the mastoid process between the 16th and 18th centuries. The first was the death of François II, King of France, following a complication of a chronic running left ear at the age of 16 years, and the second the death of Justus von Berger, Court physician of Christian VII, King of Denmark, after a trepanation of the mastoid process to heal his right-sided deafness at the age of 68 years. The aim of this study is to analyze these two events again with only original references and to replace them in their historical context. METHOD: Historical review of original literature dealing with the subject. RESULTS/CONCLUSION: These two Royal events marked the history of the mastoid process, but they were unlikely to have been avoided during their specific era. Medical knowledge was insufficient to avoid these fatal outcomes. Because of their societal impact, they were known of and largely discussed, notably in the medical world, leading to the eventual modification of medical practice during that time. François II's death had no medical impact but von Berger's death practically stopped, for more than a half century, the development of mastoid surgery.

Art is long, life is short. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), the suffering artist.

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes is one of the major figures of European art. From royal portraits to bizarre, grotesque illustrations, his legacy demonstrates a tortured genius, generating some of the most compelling art ever produced. His story is also the story of Spain during one of the most tumultuous passages of its history. In the winter of 1792-93, Goya experienced a mysterious illness resulting in lifelong deafness. After that, his work became more negative, with thick, bold strokes of dark colour. Scholars have suggested various diagnoses on the basis of Master's symptoms, but the exact nature of the illness has never been identified.

[A medical biography of Ludwig van Beethoven]. / Ludwig van Beethoven, el genio de Bonn atormentado por sus enfermedades: su historia médica.

Much emphasis has been given to the deafness of Ludwig van Beethoven and its potential causes. However, when analyzing several symptoms reported by himself throughout his life in many letters and his final illness, a common etiology emerges. This article reports the medical history of this artist, based on authoritative scientific sources.

Did poor eyesight influence Goya's late works? Medicine and art history in search for an interpretation of Goya's late paintings.

PURPOSE: The aim of this article is to 'determine' the scope of Goya's eyesight difficulties and assess the extent to which those difficulties might explain his style of painting in the last years of his life. METHODS: We analyse the correspondence and late works of the Aragonese painter Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), who has been admired for his use of colour, his energetic loose brushstrokes, his disregard for details and his bold compositions, as well as for his different artistic styles throughout his life. RESULTS: The evolution of Goya's style of painting in his later works seems to have been the consequence of an eyesight condition, probably age-related cataracts at an advanced stage. The faded dark backgrounds, which become blurred with the silhouette of the person portrayed, could indicate a certain degree of eye strain. This can be traced in all these works, but is especially evident in the unfinished portrait of Pío de Molina (1827-1828), as well as in the portraits of Mariano Goya, the artist's grandson (1827), and Jacques Galos (1826). CONCLUSION: It has been considered that the late and isolated Goya's sight problems were a belated consequence of his severe illness of 1792. Nevertheless, in our opinion, this is a simplistic explanation and, given the painter's age, it is logical to presume that their cause could be age-related lens opacities. This article argues that medicine may become a subsidiary science to art history, as it can provide empirical evidence of the way painters' illnesses may have a strong impact on their artworks.

Ludwig van Beethoven, el genio de Bonn atormentado por sus enfermedades: su historia médica / A medical biography of Ludwig van Beethoven

Much emphasis has been given to the deafness of Ludwig van Beethoven and its potential causes. However, when analyzing several symptoms reported by himself throughout his life in many letters and his final illness, a common etiology emerges. This article reports the medical history of this artist, based on authoritative scientific sources.

Phyllis M. Tookey Kerridge and the science of audiometric standardization in Britain.

The provision of standardized hearing aids is now considered to be a crucial part of the UK National Health Service. Yet this is only explicable through reference to the career of a woman who has, until now, been entirely forgotten. Dr Phyllis Margaret Tookey Kerridge (1901-1940) was an authoritative figure in a variety of fields: medicine, physiology, otology and the construction of scientific apparatus. The astounding breadth of her professional qualifications allowed her to combine features of these fields and, later in her career, to position herself as a specialist to shape the discipline of audiometry. Rather than framing Kerridge in the classic 'heroic-woman' narrative, in this article we draw out the complexities of her career by focusing on her pursuit of standardization of hearing tests. Collaboration afforded her the necessary networks to explore the intricacies of accuracy in the measurement of hearing acuity, but her influence was enhanced by her ownership of Britain's first Western Electric (pure-tone) audiometer, which she placed in a specially designed and unique 'silence room'. The room became the centre of Kerridge's hearing aid clinic that, for the first time, allowed people to access free and impartial advice on hearing aid prescription. In becoming the guardian expert and advocate of the audiometer, Kerridge achieved an objectively quantified approach to hearing loss that eventually made the latter an object of technocratic intervention.

Dr. Andrew Foster: A Literature Review.

Often compared to Laurent Clerc, Thomas Gallaudet, and Alexander Graham Bell, Dr. Andrew Foster was a deaf African American who founded 32 schools for the deaf in 13 African nations. The 60th anniversary of his arrival in Liberia and Ghana and the 30th anniversary of his tragic death in a Rwanda airplane accident both occur in 2017. Renewed interest in Foster has spawned research and events to reexamine questions about his contributions to the expansion of deaf education in Africa. However, none of these activities have taken a full biographical approach. More in-depth, historical, and biographical research is needed to answer the many remaining questions about Foster's life and legacy. A literature review was conducted to investigate what are considered Foster's key contributions and the factors that might have motivated him to expand access to deaf education in Africa.

Girl in the Looking Glass: A Historical Study of the Life of a Deaf Teacher in 19th-century Ireland.

The author explicates the life story of Anne Smyth, a deaf teacher in 19th-century Ireland. The story was written and published in 1858 by another deaf teacher, Charlotte Mary Kelly, who traced Anne Smyth's life trajectory from her birth to the day she began life in a deaf school until her untimely death at the age of 18 years. The study examines layers of meaning derived from Kelly's narrative, with particular attention to young Anne's practice of going to her bedroom and making up signs in front of a looking glass. The study provides some insight into the meaning of her actions that can inform current understandings of deaf education. The aim is to preserve Anne Smyth's story in order to generate new histories, as well as new discussions in the field of deaf education research.

Symptom and Surface: Disruptive Deafness and Medieval Medical Authority.

This essay examines constructions of deafness in medieval culture, exploring how deaf experience disrupts authoritative discourses in three textual genres: medical treatise, literary fiction, and autobiographical writing. Medical manuals often present deafness as a physical defect, yet they also suggest how social conditions for deaf people can be transformed in lieu of treatment protocols. Fictional narratives tend to associate deafness with sin or social stigma, but they can also imagine deaf experience with a remarkable degree of sympathy and nuance. Autobiographical writing by deaf authors most vividly challenges diagnostic models of disability, exploring generative forms of perception that deafness can foster. In tracing the disruptive force that deaf experience exerts on perceived notions of textual authority, this essay reveals how medieval culture critiqued the diagnostic power of medical practitioners. Deafness does not simply function as a symptom of an individual problem or a metaphor for a spiritual or social condition; rather, deafness is a transformative capacity affording new modes of knowing self and other.

William Wilde: his contribution to otology.

Sir William Wilde pioneered the epidemiology of deafness. He set otology on a firm scientific basis by applying the principles established by Robert Graves and William Stokes of the Dublin School of Medicine of correlating clinical observation with post-mortem findings and utilising this information as a framework for therapeutic intervention.

Sir William Wilde and provision for the blind in nineteenth-century Ireland.

As Assistant Commissioner for the Census of Ireland Sir William Wilde worked as an early epidemiologist, providing information regarding the deaf-and-dumb and the blind in mid-nineteenth-century Ireland. As a social agitator he focussed the attention of the authorities to the plight of the blind and their inability to earn a living and support themselves. This paper highlights his contribution to the provision for the blind in Ireland.

[Genius between music and disease: Medical considerations on Ludwig van Beethoven]. / Genie zwischen Kunst und Krankheit: Medizinische Betrachtungen zu Ludwig van Beethoven.

Ludwig van Beethoven is nowadays considered to be one of the greatest composers in the history of music and his myth-like reputation is enhanced by his deafness; however, deafness was not the only condition which affected his genius. Due to the many lamentations contained in his letters about continuously recurring health problems, various attempts at an interpretation of Beethoven's personality have been undertaken. These included psychoanalytical considerations with respect to his father-mother relationship and also diagnostic attempts with reference to the symptoms of a possible borderline personality syndrome. The aim of this article is to comprehensively analyze the diseases of the patient Beethoven from the perspective of specialized medical disciplines based on new research results, to summarize various discipline-specific considerations and to make a contemporary assessment from the viewpoint of current scientific results.