Darwin’s illness revisited

Published 13 December 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4968
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4968

Darwin’s illness revisited

John A Hayman, associate professor

¹ Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia

hayman@johnhayman.net

It is 200 years since the naturalist Charles Darwin was born. It is therefore an appropriate time to establish the nature of the illness that he endured throughout adulthood and to refute the many fanciful proffered diagnoses, both physical and psychological, or psychoanalytical.

Darwin on board HMS Beagle

Throughout his adult life Darwin endured a chronic, relapsing illness. This was present even before he sailed on HMS Beagle in 1831:

I was also troubled with palpitations and pain about the heart, and like many a young ignorant man, especially one with a smattering of medical knowledge, was convinced that I had heart-disease. I did not consult any doctor, as I fully expected to hear the verdict that I was not fit for the voyage, and I was resolvedto go at all hazards^1 /.../