Arsenic to blame for mad king?
2005-07-22 11:56
Paris - The madness of Britain's King George III, who came to the throne in 1760, could be explained by the high concentrations of arsenic found in a sample of hair, according to a study in the latest issue of the British medical review The Lancet.
The authors of the study believe the arsenic would have contributed to the monarch's unusually severe and prolonged bouts of madness, the Lancet issue dated July 23 said.
George III suffered during his nearly 60-year reign from five major episodes of mental derangement, which also had physical manifestations as the king is believed to have suffered from porphyria, a genetic or acquired defect leading to the faulty synthesis of a protein.
Porphyria can result in abdominal pains, cramps, muscle weakness and psychic problems, including depression, anxiety and paranoia.
The porphyria condition was first discovered by two British psychiatrists in 1966 and can be hereditary.
Trying to get to the root of the problem
But the severity of the physical attacks led Martin Warren of the University of Kent and colleagues to look for exposure to heavy metals.
A strong concentration of arsenic (17 parts per million) was found during the analysis of the king's hair by a British and Australian team.
Warren said "exposure to arsenic would exacerbate attacks of porphyria in a genetically predisposed individual".
Researchers believe the arsenic came from the contamination of the king's medication.
The notes of the Royal physician showed the king was given emetic tartar, which contains a substance called antimony that can be contaminated with arsenic.
The medication would have contributed to a chronic intake of arsenic, from 3.6mg to 9mg a day of the poison, researchers said, noting that the lethal dose is less than 60mg to 80mg.
Arsenic was also found in the hair of another historical legend of the same era, Napoleon of France, leading to theories that he died from poisoning and not from stomach cancer in 1821 at the age of 51.