Posted on Tue, Apr. 09, 2002  <<...OLE_Obj...>>  <<...OLE_Obj...>>
Muscle Disorder May Be Clue to Claudius' Death

NEW YORK - (Reuters Health) - Although foul play has long been suspected in
the death of the Roman emperor Claudius, a diagnosis nearly 2,000 years
later suggests an underlying movement disorder may have made him vulnerable
to poisoning.
Historical writings indicate that Claudius died just hours after a large
meal that induced stomach pain and vomiting--and that featured one of his
favorite delicacies, mushrooms. Many historians have speculated that
Claudius' last wife, Agrippina, poisoned him so that her son Nero would
become emperor.
But a new diagnosis, by Dr. William A. Valente of the University of Maryland
School of Medicine in Baltimore, adds a twist. Valente suggests that a
unique movement disorder rendered him more susceptible to poisoning by
mushroom.
He makes his diagnosis in the April 1st issue of The American Journal of
Medicine.
According to Valente, Claudius' documented ``nervous tics'' of the head, leg
weakness, ``dragging'' of his right foot and other symptoms are suggestive
of dystonia, a type of movement disorder marked by prolonged muscle
contraction.
He suspects that this dystonia--which he dubs the ``Claudian
Complex''--could have arisen from a neurological abnormality related to his
premature birth.
Moreover, Valente speculates, if the mushrooms served at Claudius' last meal
were of the muscarinic variety, the toxin in these mushrooms might have
worsened the emperor's muscular contractions and ultimately led to his
death. Amanita muscaria mushrooms, he notes, were among the ancient Roman
favorites. Their toxin alone, however, would likely not have been fatal
without some underlying disorder, according to Valente.
Of course, modern-day diagnoses of what killed Claudius are based on
``random, anecdotal reminiscences'' from antiquity, notes Dr. Richard J. A.
Talbert of the department of history at the University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill.
``We will never know,'' he writes in the same report, ``if it was poison
added by Agrippina that killed Claudius, or if it was 'bad' mushrooms, or
just old age and a bout of illness.''
SOURCE: The American Journal of Medicine 2002;112:392-398.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Betty B [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 7:50 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: FW: [cshcn-l] Delivering on the Promise--New Freedom
> Initiative Full Repo...
>
> I wasn't paying attention.  I wrote about Singer, but it wasn't until his
> appointment became a news item.  I stopped when I learned that he was
> receiving death threats.
>
> In a message dated 4/10/2002 12:38:57 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
>
> > Betty,
> > You make excellent points. Have we ignored what happened at Princeton,
> > because Clinton, a democrat, was in office? Perhaps. However, I do
> recall
> > that while Clinton was in office, this was going on at Princeton, and I
> was
> > not happy about it.
> >
> > Mag
> >