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German composer Ludwig van Beethoven began losing his hearing in his 20s, a fact that deeply upset and embarrassed him. Over the years, his hearing loss worsened, and by the time he died at age 56 in 1827, the composer was totally deaf.
But the cause of Beethoven’s deafness has always been a mystery, along with the slew of other health problems he suffered, including diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Now, nearly 200 years after his death, researchers may finally have an answer.
An analysis of Beethoven’s hair has revealed high levels of lead, arsenic, and mercury, researchers report this week in a letter to the editor of the journal Clinical Chemistry. The heavy metals alone probably weren’t enough to kill him, but they do offer a possible explanation for some of his symptoms.
Researchers tested two authenticated locks of Beethoven’s hair. One had 380 micrograms of lead per gram of hair, while the other had 258 micrograms. For reference, a normal level of lead in a gram of hair is around 4 micrograms or less. His hair also had 13 times the normal level of arsenic, and four times the normal level of mercury.
The high amount of lead, in particular, likely contributed to his gastrointestinal issues and deafness, the researchers write in the paper.
“These are the highest values in hair I’ve ever seen,” says study co-author Paul Jannetto, a pathologist at Mayo Clinic, to the New York Times’ Gina Kolata. “We get samples from around the world, and these values are an order of magnitude higher.”
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A portrait of Ludwig Van Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler, painted in 1820. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
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