Beethoven, who had a fondness for alcohol, probably had a genetic predisposition to liver disease, and a hepatitis B infection months before his death, tests have revealed, after an international team of researchers led by Cambridge University analysed five locks of hair to sequence the composer’s genome.
Although they were unable to establish a definitive cause of his hearing loss, lead author Tristan Begg said genetic risk factors, coupled with Beethoven’s high alcohol consumption, may have contributed to his liver condition.
The international team analysed strands from eight locks of hair kept in public and private collections in efforts to uncover Beethoven’s health problems, reports the BBC.
Five locks were deemed “authentic” by the researchers and came from a single European male.
Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn in 1770 and died at 56 in Vienna, suffered progressive hearing loss, which began in his mid to late 20s and led to him being functionally deaf by 1818.
Begg said the team surmised from the composer’s “conversation books” – which he used in the last decade of his life – that Beethoven’s alcohol intake was regular, but the volumes he consumed were difficult to estimate.
“While most of his contemporaries claim his consumption was moderate by early 19th century Viennese standards, this still probably amounted to quantities known today to be harmful to the liver,” he said.
“If his alcohol consumption were sufficiently heavy over a long enough period, the interaction with his genetic risk factors presents one possible explanation for his cirrhosis.”
Based on the genomic data, said the team, the composer’s gastrointestinal issues were not caused by coeliac disease or lactose intolerance.
Johannes Krause, from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, said: “We cannot say definitely what killed Beethoven but we can least confirm the presence of significant heritable risk and an infection with hepatitis B virus. We can also eliminate several other less plausible genetic causes.”
Genetic genealogists also identified what they describe as an “extra-pair paternity event” – a child resulting from an affair – in Beethoven’s direct paternal line.
Begg added: “We hope that by making Beethoven’s genome publicly available for researchers, and perhaps adding further authenticated locks to the initial chronological series, remaining questions about his health and genealogy can some day be answered.”
BBC article – Beethoven: Tests on hair prove composer’s genetic health woes (Open access)
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