How did Louisa May Alcott die? New clues.
SOURCE: startribune.com (8-12-07)
Louisa May Alcott is probably best known for her classic novel, "Little Women."
But it was the rash on her face in a 19th-century portrait that intrigued Dr. Ian Greaves of the University of Minnesota.
Greaves, a professor of environmental health, suspected that it held the key to a medical mystery. Now, he and a colleague think they've finally diagnosed the problem 119 years after Alcott's death.
In a scientific paper published this spring, Greaves and Dr. Norbert Hirschhorn suggest Alcott had lupus -- a chronic debilitating disease -- when she wrote most of her books.
But it was the rash on her face in a 19th-century portrait that intrigued Dr. Ian Greaves of the University of Minnesota.
Greaves, a professor of environmental health, suspected that it held the key to a medical mystery. Now, he and a colleague think they've finally diagnosed the problem 119 years after Alcott's death.
In a scientific paper published this spring, Greaves and Dr. Norbert Hirschhorn suggest Alcott had lupus -- a chronic debilitating disease -- when she wrote most of her books.
Source:
startribune.com
Source URL:
http://www.startribune.com/1244/story/1354346.html
Date:
8-12-07
