2007-01-12 13:27:55 · 4 answers · asked by Fedor P 2 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music
Autopsy revealed a severely damaged and shrunken liver, of which ascites is a common consequence. Scholars disagree over whether Beethoven's liver damage was the result of heavy alcohol consumption, and one (Gail S. Altman) has plausibly suggested that it was a gradual result of — possibly deliberate — arsenic poisoning.
2007-01-12 13:33:10 · answer #1 · answered by Mom of Three 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
From lead poisoning.
Beethoven's dying wish -- recorded in a letter to his brother -- was to find out what was killing him.
The German composer, who was 56 when he died, was plagued for decades by digestive problems, irritability and depression, and hearing loss.
"Large amounts of toxic lead were found in the hair and bones, and that correlates nicely with the symptoms of lead poisoning that Beethoven exhibited since age 25," said Bill Walsh, of the Argonne National Lab.
Historians say that Beethoven's personality changed at age 25, and he began to suffer from severe abdominal pain, which are classic symptoms of lead poisoning. But it was not known how Beethoven was exposed to the lead.
"Beethoven loved wine. He also had a favorite wine goblet, and it was a lead-based metal he drank his wine out of," Walsh said.
Researchers Ken Kemner and Walsh examined Beethoven's hair and fragments of his skull, and determined that they contained lead levels more than 100 times greater than average.
2007-01-12 21:33:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lead poisoning!
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2000/10/18/beethoven001018.html
2007-01-12 21:30:58 · answer #3 · answered by Sarah 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Recent studies have suggested lead poisioning. But before that ppl believed jaundice of the liver. Edema. Pneumonia.
2007-01-12 22:37:15 · answer #4 · answered by Kreutzer 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋