Heads Up, Austen Fans

An article in the Journal of Medical Ethics argues that Jane Austen did not die of Addison's disease, as a majority of scholars have believed since 1964, but rather of Hodgkin's disease:

A medical history reveals that she was particularly susceptible to infection, and suffered unusually severe infective illnesses, as well as a chronic conjunctivitis that impeded her ability to write. There is evidence that Austen was already suffering from an immune deficiency and fatal lymphoma in January 1813, when her second and most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice, was published. Four more novels would follow, written or revised in the shadow of her increasing illness and debility. Whilst it is impossible now to conclusively establish the cause of her death, the existing medical evidence tends to exclude Addison’s disease, and suggests there is a high possibility that Jane Austen’s fatal illness was Hodgkin’s disease, a form of lymphoma.

Read the whole article. It has fascinating details from contemporary sources, including Austen's letters.

Comments

[Carin]

You know, either way she's dead an no longer cranking out books for me to read (and reread.)

[Carin]

You do know, of course, that I read the whole thing.

Austenphile. Me.

[gail]

It's really amazing what she managed to accomplish as sick as she was.

[Carin]

I find it amazing that she wrote her first book at 20! I bet she was just a fascinating person.

[gail]

And funny!

[gail]

And a little scary. I'd be terrified of making some sort of faux pas.