Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and concert pianist (1770-1827) whose symphonies and other compositions are still among our most-beloved and often-performed classical music. In 1824, when Beethoven was 54, he finished conducting the first performance of his magnificent Ninth Symphony, and he could not understand why there was no applause. His concert master had to turn him around to see the audience standing, clapping and cheering at his great performance, because he couldn\u2019t hear anything.<\/p>\n
At age 31, he started to lose his hearing and became totally deaf at age 44. He was able to communicate only by passing written notes to his colleagues and friends. Then he developed serious mental symptoms of manic depression. His friends described Beethoven as very gruff with a good sense of humor. Those who visited him didn\u2019t know whether to expect him to be just charming or to go into irrational rage. He spent his last years feeling very sick, but he continued to compose incredible music until his horrible death in 1827 at age 56 from liver and kidney failure and pneumonia (Otology & Neurotology<\/em>, October, 2020;41(9):1305-1308).<\/p>\n Recent research has used sequencing of his genome from locks of his hair to try to explain his progressive hearing loss, chronic gastrointestinal complaints and severe liver disease (Current Biology<\/em>, April 24, 2023;33:1\u201317). These studies found that he had hepatitis B that can destroy his liver and cause nerve damage, which could explain his deafness, brain damage, manic depression, horrible intestinal cramps and death.\u00a0 He also drank huge amounts of wine daily for at least the final decade of his life. Alcohol was by far the most common cause of cirrhosis of the liver at that time.
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