Did Lenin die of syphilis?

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Now now, Donut, Black Baron is correct. Sharing a glass with somoene with syphillis is as dangerous as sharing their toilet seat. ::shivers::

[Attalus]

Originally posted by Donut: quote: Originally posted by Black Baron: Note to those who read the article: Syphilis may also be "caught" by other means, like drinking from the same glass that infected person drinked from.

Er! No!!! [/QUOTE]Donut is quite right. Syphilis is caused by the Treponema pallidum organism, which is quite delicate, dying at once in the open air. Sharing a glass or a toilet seat with a syphilitic would in no way endager you. Sharing a bed, however...

[ 07-20-2004, 09:56 PM: Message edited by: Attalus ]

[Black Baron]

Well, it appears that i was wrong a bit (checked it on yahoo). Should have checked with my father before posting, silly me.

And yes, i am back for a 2.5 days vacation, which o got due to a series of unexplained events.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

See, I was telling the truth.

[Black Baron]

Originally posted by Illumina Drathiran'ar: See, I was telling the truth.

?????????????????

Nevermind.
There is a probability of seeing it on bbc some time not so soon, so stay in touch.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

..What?

I was vaguely worried that people might think my previous comment was serious, but instead I correctly pointed out that the odds of getting syphillis from a glass are exactly the same as catching it from a toilet seat.
Zero.

[Aerich]

Hmmm. Now I'm not sure what to believe. Here's an excerpt from an email response I received on the subject from my professor of Russian/Soviet history.

"I just saw this very same news item in a Ukrainian newspaper. (I am in Kiev until October.) Must be slow news time! The agreement is that Lenin died from an arterial disease, which was provoked by his heredity, love of dairy products, and the wound in the neck. Contemporary doctors (of Lenin's time) did not have a good understanding of brain arteries or the means to study the brain. They thought he was dying from syphilis and treated him for that illness. This whole story is well known among the specialists."

Now doesn't that make it difficult! I hadn't thought about misdiagnosis by Lenin's doctors. That also casts doubt on the veracity of the accounts of the son of Lenin's personal physician. With all due respect to your father and his research, BB, most of the other evidence is merely circumstantial. Symptoms are notoriously vague, and Stalin (or someone else) may have removed any records suggesting syphilis because they believed it would smear the image of their icon.

I think I just swung back to the 50/50 range. It's impossible to tell either way without hard scientific data (e.g. a brain analysis).

Edit: to take out the annoying space that showed up in the middle of the quoted passage.

[ 07-23-2004, 03:37 AM: Message edited by: Aerich ]

[Black Baron]

I would have agreed with your professor if i did not read Folke Henschen's diary (the one that treated lenin), especially the autopsy part. The autopsy clearly showed that syphilis was present and not anything else.

[Aerich]

Do you know if there's an English translation available of that diary? I'd love to take a look at it myself and/or get my prof's opinion on it. If it's that conclusive, I would have thought it would sway more people in academia.

While we're on the subject of Russian leaders who may or may not have died from syphilis, what do you think about Peter the Great? (reigned 1689-1725) Did he die from pneumonia contracted while sailing around with his new navy, or did he die from syphilis contracted during the course of his notorious promiscuity?

[Black Baron]

I do not have the slightest idea about peter the graet, and the diary (actually the relevant parts of it) was published if i am not mistaken in "Frankfurt allgemeine zeitung" or somesuch. We had recieved it through mail, so i do not know where to get the english version.