Possible explanations as to Jane Austen's tragic early death
Today is 198 years since Jane died aged 41, and the cause of Jane Austen's death is still and has been much debated over the years (insert many clichés that her death is "not universally acknowledged" here). I am not, nor do I claim to be, a medical professional, so I will not attempt to go into any heavy terminology in my blog post. Jane made fun of those who took their health far too seriously in her characters Mrs Bennett, Mr Woodhouse and Mary Musgrove. In her own letters, she refers to her illness only as her "sad complaint" and politely avoids any extensive details, which makes it all the more difficult for doctors to diagnose years later.
In 1964, Sir Zachary Cope, a surgeon, proposed that Jane died from Addison's disease, which was generally accepted as the cause of her death for many years. However, many people now disagree.
Addison's disease, a disease unknown in Jane's time, is one which is characterized by progressive anaemia, low blood pressure, weakness, and sometimes darkening of small areas of skin. It is caused by inadequate secretion of hormones by the adrenal glands, an area of the kidneys that mediates the stress response. We know from Jane's letters that she suffered from weakness and discolouration of the skin and Cope stated that it would explain her two year deterioration into bed-ridden exhaustion, bilious attacks, and rheumatic pains. However, Katherine White, of the Addison's Disease self-help group, explains that "most patients with the disease experience mental confusion, generalised pain, weight loss and loss of appetite. None of these symptoms appear in Miss Austen's letters". Indeed, Jane wrote in a letter to her friend Anne Sharp in May 1817: "My head was always clear, and I had scarcely any pain". Austen even dictated to her sister a comic verse three days before she died. Other evidence presented points towards Hodgkin's disease, a type of cancer not identified until 1832. It is described by the NHS as "an uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system, which is a network of vessels and glands spread throughout your body". They advise that the most common symptom of Hodgkins Lymphoma is a painless swelling in a lymph node, usually in the neck, armpit or groin. Jane does not describe any swelling in her letter to Anne Sharp but does describe that her "cheif sufferings were from feverish nights, weakness & Languor", general symptoms of Hodgkins. Tuberculosis (TB), formerly known as consumption, was common in Jane Austen's time with around one in four deaths resulting from TB. It is often described as a simpler explanation of Jane's symptoms as it is characterized by fatigue and night sweats. However, persistent coughing up of phlegm and blood is a common symptom and we know that Jane died peacefully with her head on a pillow on Cassandra's knee. Typhus, now more common in developing countries, was contracted by Jane when she was 7 years old living in Southampton under the tutelage of Ann Cawley. Jane was lucky to survive as there was no cure for typhus at the time, but typhus can be a recurring disease, laying dormant in your system waiting to strike when your immune system is at its weakest. Several of Jane's symptoms can be explained by this theory, such as weakness, fever, muscle joint pain, and discoloured skin.
There is a theory that Jane Austen was poisoned by arsenic as a sample of Jane's hair donated to the society was claimed to be tested in 1948 (despite there being no records), and the results were positive for high levels of arsenic. However, many items in the nineteenth Century contained arsenic, including wallpaper! It was an ingredient in green paints and dyes, and also in medicines, such as Dr Fowler's Solution.
It would be impossible to say whether Jane's hair contained significantly higher levels of arsenic than the average English woman living in 1817. She also lived with her sister Cassandra and mother for the majority of her lifetime, and both lived to 72 and 88 respectively. Here is an interesting article about arsenic poisoning from décor if you would like to read more: http://journals.ed.ac.uk/resmedica/article/viewFile/182/799. Almost 200 years later, there is still no definitive answer for her death. It is something we can only speculate. However, what we do know is that she was taken from the world tragically young. How many more wonderful masterpieces could she have given the world had she lived longer?
