Henry VIII's Syphilis and Other Diagnoses

Youtube has been insisting I learn about henry's syphilis so after skipping it four times I've finally submitted

Among all the other excellences of her videos, I think her integrity shines out. The last five minutes of this video shows it very well. There is no rush to judgement, no pet theories given precedence, no half baked popular misconceptions underwritten, and no insistence that her conclusion is the only possible conclusion. She is a genuine investigative historian, and I think she's a good influence on anyone doing their own research for whatever purposes.

After living with someone who experienced two acquired head injuries I can attest to a definite change in personality. It made him short tempered, nasty after drinking and at times violent. He lost empathy and curtesy. We no longer live together. 😒🙁

There was a documentary made years ago called Inside the body of Henry VIII. It was fascinating. I believe Henry suffered from diabetes. When you look at his illnesses and issues aside from the head trauma point towards diabetes..and I LOVE Dr Lucy Worsley! !!

I really respect that she stresses the limits of making any assumptions, rather than trying to push any one opinion on us. You can tell she is a true scholar.

I work in mental health services and as well as folks with mental illness we also see a lot of people with traumatic brain injury. Henry VIII definitely exhibited symptoms consistent with a head injury. Migraines, change in personality and temper and I believe that this may also have contributed to his obesity. People with brain injuries can become more impulsive and less able to regulate certain behaviors, like overeating and alcohol consumption. Consumption of alcohol can also be a way of self medicating. In a time before pain killers he may well have used alcohol to relieve the pain of his various health issues.

Being a migraine sufferer myself, it’s impossible to exercise a bad temper during an episode, it’s painful to even speak let alone throw an angry tantrum

Love your channel. As a 40 year registered nurse, in my estimation, I feel very confident , ole Henry had Type 2 Diabetes. He was terribly heavy, and had a terrible, non-healing leg ulcer. the possibility of him having syphillis is very high, due to his reported sexual encounters. Of course, diabetes causes symptoms many other conditions, such as heart disease, other vascular disease. The Kell disease carrier would definitely explain why so many of his wives had still births after the first pregnancy. Very interesting. Maybe King Charles and Prince William will be more interested in solving these mysteries.

There's an infamous cemetery in Louisiana with irreverent tombstone ingravings - the one that started it all was - " I Told You I Was Sick "

This channel is keeping me sane during quarantine.

I loved this video! It's the first one I've watched. As a nurse in an Aged Care facility in Australia, I found this topic fascinating. To me, the most plausible retrospective diagnoses for King Henry VIII, would have to be the possibility of Type 2 Diabetes mellitus with chronic ulcers as complications. If he had poor circulation in his lower legs, that could also indicate a heart condition as a symptom is often oedema (swelling) in the legs, feet and ankles that over time causes cellulitis (infection in the cells) which causes weeping of fluid and can lead to ulcers that won't heal easily. Now I'm imagining things! Often, in my job, we are in danger of forgetting our residents are people who had lives and histories that were significant before they became older and frailer or unwell...it's helpful to look at their diagnostic profiles as it reminds us of their humanity and informs not only their clinical care needs but also their need for emotional support as they continue to age and struggle to manage their symptoms. King Henry was no different other than that he lived through a period without the medical care around today. Retrospective diagnosis as a profiling tool helps us connect with him as a real person, a vulnerable human, making him suddenly far more relatable. We will never know for sure what ailed him, but the process of trying to discern his health issues is helpful for seeing him with fresh eyes.

I always felt strange because I never found Anne of Cleve's ugly--there was a sweetness and sly smile in her portrait. Prof. Kat made me feel less "weird" and enlightened me on her personality and appearance.

Given his weight, ulcerous legs, low libido etc, I've always thought he was diabetic.

I’ve been bingeing your Channel for the past few days and I would like to thank you for your excellent content and approach. I’m very happy to see the number of subscribers growing so quickly for the past week. Well deserved! Love from a Brazilian that loves British history :)

I walk around with my iPad when doing my housework, have it beside me while weeding the garden. Your channel is fabulous . I wish I had you as a teacher when I was young. You bring a fresh and human element to all the historical characters you research and bring into our homes. Thank you so much.

My brother in law suffered a head injury from a motorcycle accident and he became very mean and paranoid. He never was the same.

The Kell Positive genetic disorder reminded me of Queen Victoria's hemophilia hidden in the male bloodline and how it was ironic that they all inbred to keep the bloodline pure, but just passed along the deadly disease for their kids to die from.

As a Registered Nurse, I think I can speak a bit to the cause and treatment of King Henry VIII’s leg ulcers. The wounds would be slow-healing due to decreased blood flow to his lower legs, perhaps from scarring from his injuries, and/or clothing strictures, and/or weight-gain, and/or genetic predisposition. These deep-thickness wounds would today be drained at bedside or in surgery, and then dressed with a modern wet-to-dry dressing, or, a gauze moistened by sterile, neutral saline solution, topped by a dry gauze, and secured. It has the effect, as the moistened gauze slowly dries, to draw pus and dead cells out of the wound. The dressing needs to be changed at least 3 times a day. The poultice dressing of King Henry’s day would have had a similar therapeutic effect with the additional benefit of natural antibacterial and analgesic agents, such as honey, garlic and other sulfur-containing herbs, as well as castor oil (astringent) and herbs for swelling, pain, and inflammation being applied directly to the wound. In other words, Henry’s medical treatment by his surgeons—while antique—would have been better than nothing, and, coupled with Henry’s general personal hygiene being a cut above other Tudor-era men of his same age, probably A LOT better than nothing, prolonging his life well past the point where he would have normally succumbed to infection. ❤️

As someone living with a traumatic brain injury, it does affect your mood. Also, my mother was diabetic, and when I would take care of her, if her blood sugar levels were elevated, it would cause her to be ill tempered as well. Although you sited many good points for all that I had heard, I still believe the best likely possibility for all he had going on, would be diabetes. With the absence of being able to exhume the remains of these important members of the past, we can only speculate, and draw up our own conclusions. I am not a medical professional, but I know what I have been through, and from all that I have heard, I can only guess as to what he had. Thank you for putting forth videos like that that entertain, and inform us. I thoroughly enjoy watching them. Although I am late to the game on finding your channel, I look forward to getting caught up on all of your posts. They really are delighful to listen to. Keep up the good work, and I can't wait for more videos as they come out!

Being a Diabetic myself I feel that many of the symptoms that Henry had point to Type 2 DM, but I also think he may have had Gout and migraines as well. Thank you for this fascinating study!