Scientists might have a lock on what made Ludwig van Beethoven so miserable.
The Austrian composer died in 1827 at age 56, probably of pneumonia and complications of abdominal problems. For years before then, he had complained of bad digestion, abdominal pains and terrible depression. Scientists finally think they know why. They think he suffered from lead poisoning. Tests of a lock of his hair found a concentration of lead 100 times greater that what’s found in people today.
Other questions remain unanswered. For one thing, how could Beethoven possibly have been exposed to so much lead? For another, what caused his legendary deafness? Experts say it’s unlikely that was caused by excessive lead. But another interesting finding was revealed: Analysis showed that Beethoven didn’t used opiate painkillers in his final days. That kept his mind clear for music, which he worked on until the day he died.
How did a strand of hair hang around so long? It was clipped from his head after he died by a musical colleague and passed from generation to generation. In 1994, it was snapped up at an auction for $7,300 by two Arizona music lovers.
Then they offered it up for scientific research.
