On 16 May 2005, Esther Yoder Strahan wrote: > I've been too busy to read TIPS postings for some time, so forgive me if > this has already been discussed recently. I know there are medical > historians who contend that Darwin was a victim of Chagas' disease, > contracted from the "assassin bug" which Darwin wrote about having seen in > S. America... In fact, as I recall, there are even some who are hoping to > exhume his body in order to test this hypothesis, but last I heard they > weren't having any success obtaining permission.
The research originally posted by Allen Esterson which proposed lactose intolerance ( Campbell & Matthews, 2005) considered the Chargas' disease hypothesis, and called it "the most convincing". But they rejected it in favour of their new lactose intolerance hypothesis because "there is no record of Darwin on the Beagle having the expected initial fever and other early symptoms of Chagas' disease. Nor does the full list of Darwin's symptoms match those of Chagas' disease." Campbell and Matthews instead claim an exact match between Darwin's symptoms and those of lactose intolerance. However, they do suggest the condition may have been worsened by a gut infection such as Chagas' disease. Unless, of course, Darwin's illness was caused by intelligent design. Stephen Campbell, A., & Matthews, S. (2005). Darwin's illness revealed. Postgraduate Medicine Journal, 81, 248-251 ___________________________________________________ Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm _______________________________________________ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
