Pox: Genius, madness and the mysteries of syphilis by Deborah Hayden, Basic Books, $27.50/拢20.99, ISBN 0465028810 Reviewed by John Bonner
ABRAHAM Lincoln, Adolf Hitler, Friedrich Nietzsche, Oscar Wilde, Ludwig van Beethoven, Vincent Van Gogh鈥� many noted historical figures have joined the furtive queue at the STD clinic. So claims amateur medical historian Deborah Hayden, shining a light on the dark secrets of 14 famous names from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Back then, up to 15 per cent of adults in the west were infected with syphilis. Very few would have publicly acknowledged that they had the disease. So Hayden builds her case from clues in the medical notes, diaries and correspondence of the (alleged) victims.
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Part of the problem is the disease itself, known to physicians as the 鈥済reat imitator鈥� for mimicking the symptoms of a wide range of conditions. But Hayden sees a pattern: patients had a lifetime of ill health involving muscle and joint pains, inflammation of the eyes, digestive disorders and heart problems. In many, their final years were clouded by madness as the Treponema pallidum bacterium wreaked its havoc on their brain. The treatments then available 鈥� toxic mercury and arsenic 鈥� clouded the clinical picture with their own range of side effects.
Many earlier biographers have either ignored or downplayed the influence of syphilis on their subjects鈥� lives, Hayden claims. Pressure to protect the reputations of surviving relatives, and to not sully an illustrious memory continues. Whatever the strengths of her arguments in each individual case, she is certainly right in one respect: the influence of this awful disease on 500 years of human history has been grossly underestimated.
Fear and secrecy always create their own mythology. One of the common myths about syphilis is a supposed association with genius. Yes, some victims experience moments of clarity and great energy in the final stages of the disease. But even if syphilis provided that spark of sublime inspiration that allowed Beethoven to compose his Ode to Joy shortly before his death, he would certainly have traded that moment to have been free from the decades of ill health that came before.