Did Napoleon Bonaparte suffer from hypopituitarism (dystrophia adiposo-genitalis) at the close of his life? / by Leonard Guthrie.

  • Guthrie, Leonard George, 1858-1918.
Date:
1913
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Did Napoleon Bonaparte suffer from hypopituitarism (dystrophia adiposo-genitalis) at the close of his life? / by Leonard Guthrie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    him on occasions which were sometimes inconvenient, and a peculiarity about them was that they subsided with equal suddenness if not immediately gratified, or if meanwhile something occurred to disengage his attention. All women were to him but filles de joie. Sexual rather than social attractions in women appealed to him, and he was incapable of lasting affection for any woman, or of regarding her as an intellectual equal and helpmate. The best women, in his opinion, were those who bore most children. Sexual gratifi- cation was the only kind of love he knew, and his remarks on the subject when at St. Helena must be taken as those of a man whose desire had failed, not as the mature reflections of a philosopher. It is true that scandals were afoot in regard to his sexual life while in exile, but these seem to have been unfounded, and there is no reason either for doubting the chastity—during this period at least—to which Henry referred, or the physical cause to which he attributed it. It is possible that Napoleon’s abnormal “ libido sexualis ” was due to hyperpituitarism. For gigantism in early life is sometimes associated with precocious sexual development, and abnormal sexual activity may be a sign of early acromegaly. Cushing’s first case is that of a man whom he describes as a “ veritable Gargantua ” at the age of 35. At 19 he measured 6 feet 4 inches, and was of unusual strength. “He was intelligent, a good student, and aside from an uncontrolled ‘libido sexualis’ had good habits.” At 25 there were no signs of acromegaly, but they appeared at the age of 27. At 35 his height was 6 ft. 6in., he was typically acromegalic, and had lost “ libido et potentia sexualis.” The association of atrophy of the genital organs with lesions of the pituitary has led some authorities (Tandler, Gross, and others) to attribute the primary cause of the pituitary affection to the atrophy of the genital glands. But although changes are produced in the pituitary by castration, the physical results of castration do not resemble dystrophia adiposo-genitalis, and it is much more likely, as Blair Bell maintains, that this condition is subsequent to a pituitary lesion. The Part or Parts of the Hypophysis Cerehri which were prohahly concerned in the Causation of Napoleon s Dyspituitarism. As the head was not opened after death the condition of the hypophysis cerebri must remain for ever unknown. But modern investigations of the functions of the different portions of the pituitary gland suggest conclusions as to those portions which were probably affected in the case of Napoleon. Although authorities are by no means agreed in