Morbus gallicus
I heartily recommend to all LIAC comrades the following:
Hayden, Deborah
Pox: genius, madness, and the mysteries of syphilis
New York, Basic Books: 2003
It's both an excellent account of the history of the disease as well as a discussion of some of its more illustrious victims: Schubert, Schumann, Nietzsche usw....not sure why I've picked on the Germans
Inspired by this I ran a little PubMed search on the subject. I offer it humbly, in the hope it may amuse.
Hayden, Deborah
Pox: genius, madness, and the mysteries of syphilis
New York, Basic Books: 2003
It's both an excellent account of the history of the disease as well as a discussion of some of its more illustrious victims: Schubert, Schumann, Nietzsche usw....not sure why I've picked on the Germans
Inspired by this I ran a little PubMed search on the subject. I offer it humbly, in the hope it may amuse.
posted by Lovelorn Swain | 10:01 pm
'"this exhilarating yet wasting disease." [...] syphilis was accompanied by wild euphoria and suicidal depression, [...] profoundly affecting sufferers' worldview, their sexual behavior, and their art.'
By the sounds of it, having syphilis is the same as being in love.
Very true, and towards the end, there's the general paresis stage, "a dramatic epiosde characterised by delusions; grandiosity; identification with religous, mythic or royal figures; and sometimes rage and violent acts".
There's a physician's mnemonic for paresis:
Personality disturbances
Affect abnormalities
Reflex hyperactivity
Eye abnormality
Sensorium changes
Intellectual impairment
Slurred speech
King Alfred
Indeed, I was cantering around the Labryinth the other day and was told that I was actually in a VD clinic. Could happen to anybody - stay alert.