Locks of Beethoven's hair reveal secret family history and health issues

Wonderful post. I had no idea about the gastrointestinal issues he had.

If I remember, alcoholism ran in his family. Someone might need to check this, (it’s been ages since I’ve read about him) but I think his father was an alcoholic and died of the same thing. His father was also a musician.

He was also quite depressed, especially later on in life. Any type of major depressive disorder combined with alcoholism is very hard to deal with.

A liter of wine at lunch though… that is, I don’t know how he managed to work after that…

One stormy Monday in March, 1827, the German composer Ludwig von Beethoven passed away after a protracted illness. Bedridden since the previous Christmas, he was attacked by jaundice, his limbs and abdomen swollen, each breath a struggle.

As his associates went about the task of sorting through personal belongings, they uncovered a document Beethoven had written a quarter of a century earlier – a will beseeching his brothers make details of his condition known to the public. In a letter addressed to his brothers, Beethoven admitted he was "hopelessly afflicted", to the point of contemplating suicide.

-Functionally deaf by his mid-40s
-Tinnitus in his 20s slowly gave way to a reduced tolerance for loud noise, and eventually a loss of hearing in the higher pitches, effectively ending his career as a performing artist.
-Age of 22 he is said to have suffered severe abdominal pains and chronic bouts of diarrhea.
-6 years before his death the first indications of liver disease appeared, an illness thought to have been, at least in part, responsible for his death at the relatively young age of 56.
-Hepatitis B infection, exacerbated by his drinking and numerous risk factors for liver disease.

Where did he contract hepatitis? How did a lock of woman's hair pass as Beethoven's own for centuries? And just what was behind his gut pains and hearing loss?