Beethoven's hair unlocks mystery of composer's cause of death, deafness

Two hundred years ago this week, Beethoven conducted his final symphony. He died three years later, and the cause has been relatively unknown... until now.

#beethoven #composer #classicalmusic #abc7news

[Kiraiko]

I wish they'd have mentioned that lead was basically used in everything back then, including cups and pitchers and the like that were used to store and drink water out of. They even used it in makeup.

[manichairdo]

Brilliant.
My tap water was full of black bits. The landlord said to use a sieve. Hell, no. I rang environmental health. They tested the water. I forget the details but 32 was safe. Mine was 161.
Outcome: Lead pipes were removed from my entire street. AWESOME.

[iambiggus]

This is what I imagine it will be like 100-200 years from now with micro-plastics in everything, with future scientists discussing why they caused so much of our misery.

[d.a.elliottjr.]

Someone was sure wise enough to save a lock of his hair & then preserve it for centuries.

[Commandercooll]

Imagine making beautiful masterpieces and then slowly losing your hearing. what a torturous life that would’ve been

[lkj]

He lived in Vienna. Prostitutes, bad water, lots of alcohol, long cold damp winters in drafty, moldy buildings, too many unhealthy foods, lots of people crowded together. Compared to his fellow pre 20th century Viennese composers he lived to a ripe old age. Probably because he usually spent summers in the country.

[kasimirdenhertog]

This report is incredibly dumbed-down. They tested two locks, one contained 258 and another 380 micrograms per gram of hair. Normal would be around 4 micrograms per gram. The report doesn’t mention where the lead could’ve come from, but a lot of commenters do: from the wine he drank (sweetener), water pipes, fish he ate, pencils he chewed on, medicine, etc.
Interestingly, they also managed to sample two-thirds of his genome. His genes revealed he was genetically predisposed to liver disease and had hepatitis B at the time of his death. One genetic variant, in particular, would have tripled his risk for liver disease.
The fact he died from liver disease is pretty well established. This new research (which was already done decades ago on not only his hair but his skull) suggests lead was a contributing factor, but that was already clear from research, given the fact that everyone around that time, particularly in cities, was exposed to high doses of lead.

[stevepeterson]

At least he got to offer his tremendous gifts to the world while he could. I have to sit or lie down to listen to his piano concertos, there's nothing like them, his music transcends, like Rembrandt's paintings.

[robert]

Everything contained lead back then. They even used it as a substitute for sugar to sweeten wine. That was fairly common

[WesaTwoRivers]

The research that I had to do during college (music major), all suggested that his hearing loss was caused by his father’s frequent and severe beatings, with a great deal of the damage done to his head and ears.

[wheelzwheela]

Didn’t everybody know this for at least 50 years? I remember in high school being told Beethoven died from lead poisoning and they knew it from testing his hair.

[bretthess]

Ludwig van had money to buy fine Spanish wine in large quantities. It was "sweetened" with a lead oxide. So although most folks got a lot of lead through lead water pipes and eating utensils, Beethoven got a whole lot more than normal.
I recall an old stereotype of deaf Englishmen with hearing horns. English upper crust drank a lot of Spanish Sherry. Same deal.

[frankmcfarlane-em]

the lead theory has been posited for many decades...
white lead was used as a sweetener in the very wines that B was known to have preferred...
and he loved his wine...this comfirms the theory.

[mjremy]

Wow, this is news to me! I love Beethoven, and feel so sad his life had more sorrow than joy.
It is a wonder he survived at all, from his father's beatings, to contracting syphilis from his mother, to lead poisoning.
How great to know this. He is one of my idols and I must see his lock of hair and visit this museum.
Thank you for this story and many thanks to the owner of the hair who had the good sense to unravel this mystery. I cannot thank you enough, sir! You did a service to us all.

[ssake_IAL_Research]

I heard that they had exhumed his body, and inside the casket, they found his unfinished symphony. It appeared to have been erased from the bottom up. After much deliberation, the scientists concluded that all this time, he had been de-composing.

[ahill]

There is something adorable about Beethoven’s hair taped to a paper for us to see, like many moms do with their baby’s hair. ☺️

[thsealord]

Interesting but, considering the era, not an overwhelming surprise.

[MotorWorks]

it’s crazy to think that back in the day there wasn’t known diseases like today, you’d just die from “upset stomach” and everyone was like “yup that makes sense”

[interwebzful]

very cool (the research, not the health problems)

[yugandali]

I wish Schroeder could find out about this.