Strands of Beethoven’s Hair Tell Scientists How He Died

Ludwig von Beethoven may have achieved a kind of immortality with his music from busts and statues to concert Halls to pop culture [Music] a bit of the old Ludwig van you and your stupid old Beethoven by golly I'll show you Beethoven's music is even in outer space included on the so-called golden record carried by the Voyager 1 probe but the composer himself was all too mortal he only lived to age 56. to learn more about why Beethoven died so young scientists at the University of Cambridge examined strands of his hair which had been kept in a German Museum they found the source of some of Beethoven's health problems including genetic factors for liver disease in the spring of 1825 he describes spitting a great deal of blood from this windpipe this is likely indicative of cirrhosis so that the further progression of this level disease researchers also found evidence of hepatitis B which affects the liver those findings plus the fact that Beethoven was known to be something of a drinker LED them to conclude he died from liver failure as for the composer's loss of hearing which led to Total deafness by the time he was in his mid-40s it was a slowly progressing form of hearing loss but the FPS have been nerve related predominantly the source of that ailment much like the source of his Gene genius remains a mystery this is Inside Edition digital [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Inside Edition

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Keywords: entertainment, ie entertainment, ie science, germany, Inside Edition, Inside_Edition, IE Newsdesk, ie history, ie health, ludwig van beethoven, classical music, composer, dna, university of cambridge, liver disease, tristan begg, cirrhosis, voyager, golden record

Id: URc5dHLegc8

Length: 1min 58sec (118 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 24 2023