Читать книгу Twelve Diseases that Changed Our World - Irwin W. Sherman - Страница 5

In 1962 the U.S. President John F. Kennedy said, “Life is unfair. Some people are sick and others are well.” He, of course, was referring to himself and the persistent rumors about his ill health. Forty years later, an examination of his medical records revealed that he had Addison's disease, a life-threatening lack of adrenal gland function, as well as osteoporosis and persistent digestive problems. He was given pain killers (demerol and methadone), stimulants, and antianxiety agents, as well as hormones (hydrocortisone and testosterone) to keep him alive, especially during times of stress. Although doubts linger whether President Kennedy's physical ailments influenced the manner by which the Cuban missile crisis was handled or whether they affected other political decisions, it is clear that for many world leaders, including Great Britain's King George III, several of Queen Vizctoria's children and grandchildren, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and Alfonso XIII and Generalissimo Franco in Spain, as well as, indirectly, the leaders of Nazi Germany, sickness was the seed for historical change.