Darwin travel may have led to the disease, death

BALTIMORE - travel very inspired by the theory of the evolution of Charles Darwin, and in the form of modern biology can have led to one of the diseases which have affected the naturalist British for decades and finally leads to his deathsay modern researchers.

Darwin headache is the subject of an annual Conference in Baltimore Friday that offers modern medical diagnostics for the mysterious illness and death of historical figures. In past years, the Conference organized by the University of Maryland School of medicine and Maryland Health Care System of the Veterans Administration looked at Alexander the great, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Booker t. Washington. Guest speakers include great-back-small-daughter of Darwin, poet Ruth Padel, who wrote the book, "" Darwin: a life in poems. ""

Philip a. Mackowiak, Maryland will care medical clinic center Chief and Professor of the UM medical school which began the Conference in 1995, had Darwin on his current list of potential candidates for years.

Darwin, who lived from 1809 to 1882, travelled the world in the 20 Wildlife observation and cataloguing and later published "on" the origin of species.

Throughout his life, Darwin sought help with multiple health problems, which included vomiting acidic stomach after each meal when symptoms were at their worst. He was diagnosed with dozens of conditions, including intolerance of schizophrenia, appendicitis and lactose.

"It is especially poignant that scientists and physicians of his time would not meet Darwin, the father of science of modern life, with a relief of the affection which affected a large part of his life, said Mackowiak.".

The information used to assess the case of Darwin came from several sources, Mackowiak said, including letters of naturalist, in which he wrote much about its complaints and concerns that he had sent his disease to his children.

Gastroenterologist Dr. Sidney Cohen, Thomas Jefferson University medical college professor of medicine and Research Director, assessed the evils of Darwin for the Conference and identified three diseases. Cohen, who had no x-ray or blood studies to use in its assessment, said it was only the symptoms documented: "an analysis of this journey of infirmity he suffered throughout his life."

"It is a specialty based on the symptoms, but now we have some extraordinary diagnostic tools," he said. "It would have been nice to have some computed tomography.

Cohen has concluded that Darwin suffered from syndrome of Cyclic vomiting early in his life. Its weight and nutrition remain normal because he rarely vomited food, just the gastric acid and other secretions.

The gastroenterologist also believes that Darwin has contracted Chagas disease, a parasitic disease which can lie dormant for years, on a five-year trip around the world on the HMS Beagle somethings. The hypothesis was advanced in the past. Cohen said that the disease would describe the heart disease that beset Darwin later in life and eventually caused his death.

He believes that Darwin has also suffered from Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria that cause peptic ulcer disease and often occur with Chagas.

Research of Cohen headaches of Darwin gave him a better appreciation of Darwin and the impact of its scientific work, despite his ailments.

"It is difficult to know how it affected his work", said Mackowiak. "But its productivity declined ever."