1. One of the first well-documented cases of an autoimmune rheumatic disease was that of a famous 19th century French artist. In addition to the typical signs of the disease (shown in the picture below), he suffered from pleuritis, cachexia, and peculiar nodules on his back. As his conditioned worsened, he claimed the only thing that helped were his many visits to French thermal spas. Somehow he managed to continue his artistic achievements despite his debilitations. What disease was he suffering from? Can you name the artist?
Note the MCPs and PIPs...
He would tie a paintbrush between his knuckles to continue his work.
2. In 1776, Benjamin Franklin was appointed to the committee responsible for drafting the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, he failed to attend most of the meetings because of a joint illness, and Thomas Jefferson had to send him the drafts to look over at home so he could make corrections. At this point in history, his disease was well understood, and a Dutch man named Antonie van Leeuwenhoek had even described the structure of the causative agent. When he looked through his microscope, what did he see?
van Leeuwenhoek's microscope
3. Members of the famous Florentine Medici family were known to suffer from a peculiar series of rheumatic conditions. While renaissance doctors thought gout was responsible, their symptoms were so unique that historians coined the term "Medici Syndrome" to describe their disease. Each generation presented differently, but recent paleopathological studies of their exhumed skeletons showed that the most common findings were degenerative ankylosing of the spine, mutilating deformities of the small and large joints of the hand, slight subluxation of the fingers, demineralization of bony matrix, and an erythematous skin condition. There is no consensus on what the family suffered from, but which two diseases could these symptoms point to?
Spinal Column of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici (aka Cosimo the Gouty)
4. During his first voyage to the new world, Christopher Columbus had an episode of severe food poisoning that took him weeks to recover from. In the following years up until his death in 1506, he was known to complain of debilitating joint pain from "gout", despite the fact that he avoided alcohol and rich foods to help with his comorbid painful urination. In his later years he also had constant fevers, a fused spine, and difficulty seeing as a result of conjunctivitis. His illness wasn't described until over 400 years later when a nazi physician came across it. What is it called today?
Portrait of a man, said to be Christopher Columbus
ANSWERS (highlight to see):
1. Rheumatoid Arthritis, Auguste Renoir
2. Needle-shaped uric acid crystals
3. Psoriatic Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis
4. Reactive Arthritis (previously Reiter's Syndrome)
