DNA from strands of Beethoven’s hair is helping to uncover what may have caused his death, researchers say.
This elevated risk — paired with a potential liver infection and the composer’s alleged drinking habits — may have hastened Beethoven’s premature death at the age of 56, says Tristan Begg, a biological anthropologist at the University of Cambridge.
It’s well-known that Beethoven’s storied career was cut short by progressive hearing loss that left the composer completely deaf by age 45. Beethoven also suffered from gastrointestinal issues and a deteriorating liver. That faulty organ is thought to be responsible for the composer’s skin reportedly turning yellow in the summer of 1821.
The root cause of Beethoven’s plethora of health issues has been a source of fascination to many. But working out what ailed a man that lived nearly two centuries ago is no easy task. Researchers have had to rely on notes from the composer’s two autopsies, preformed after he was exhumed in 1863 and 1888, and other historical documents.
2023-03-22 10:00:00
Article from www.sciencenews.org