Ray Bayles <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Venereal Diseases cannot be found in old blood remains.

True.

>Syphilis, in its very late states, can be sometimes found in the hair,
>ear bones and skeletal bones.  They did not find any evidence of Tertiary
>Syphilis in Beethoven, according to the Centers for Disease Control..

True.

>But they did find evidence of various chemicals in the hair that can
>sometimes affect the hearing in large doses.

Not various, lead.  Yes, also some arsenic, but not much.  However, lots
of lead present in Beethoven's hair.  But deafness due to lead poisoning
is very rare.  And there are impressive counterproofs to the speculation
that it was lead poisoning that killed Beethoven and/or caused his
deafness.  He hardly showed the symptoms usually present in a sufferer
from lead poisoning, like, for instance, paralysis of the hands.  Another
counterproof are his extraordinary white teeth (according to Gerhard
Breuning in his booklet "Erinnerungen aus dem Schwarzspanierhause"), for
victims of lead poisoning mostly show greenish/greyish/blueish coloring
of the teeth and the gums.  The level that will cause poisoning symtoms
in persons who have a high amount of lead in their blood differs a lot.
Workers in the lead industry often show flabbergasting high levels without
showing even the slightest trace of poisoning symptoms.  Probably this was
also the case with Beethoven.

Joyce Maier (mail to: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask])
www.ademu.com/Beethoven