Lupus has, of course, existed from time immemorial, and before modern medical understandings, was almost universally rapidly degenerative and fatal until the 20th century.
Let me be clear: Lupus clearly affects Africans and Asians more than Europeans, but I can find almost no information on the history of Lupus outside Europe. So this is a very white, European history.
The name “lupus” obviously comes from the Latin word for “wolf”, because the type of destruction that the disease wrought was reminiscent of the bites of a wolf. The earliest use of “Lupus” in English literature appears in the biography of St. Martin, written in 963.
“Lupus” seems to have been used throughout the classical period to diagnose any illness which involved ulceration or boils. This is particularly true of physicians Rogerius Frugardi in 1230, and Giovanni Manardi in 1530. However, throughout the Middle Ages, the uneducated masses ascribed much superstition to the term “Lupus.”
People with strange skin lesions were feared, and people believed they transformed into wolves in the night, seeking others to bite and make like them. Thus, the early myth of the werewolf was born! A few famous artists had Lupus– most notably Flannery O’Connor, who died of a flare in 1964. Evidently, Ludwig van Beethoven may also have had Lupus, as medical historians have identified a Lupus scar in his portraits, as well as possible malar rashes. Of course, he was also known to be a heavy drinker… However, sufficient other medical evidence suggests that his death, as well as his tinnitus and deafness, may have been due to the disease.
Wondering what’s going on with these posts? Check out my explanation HERE!
This Isolation Life 