Famous historical figures such as King George III of England and Vincent van Goh were thought to have been affected by porphyria. The term porphyria is derived from the ancient Greek word ‘porphyra’ which means purple, which is the colour of porphyrins that are known to cause the disease. B.J. Stokvis is the first known to have clinically described acute porphyria in 1889. The first type of porphyria to be described is acute intermittent porphyria (AIP), and will also be the focus of this abstract.
King George III was known for his episodes of ‘madness’ which were associated with constipation, weakness of the limbs, abdominal pain, tachycardia, darkened urine, seizures and hoarseness. According to Macalpine and Hunter, these symptoms were closely linked to the diagnosis of acute intermittent porphyria. The paper published in 1966 caused a ruckus in the field, as this was the first paper suggesting that King George III suffered from a physical illness. Prior to this, the common belief was that the he suffered from the somatic manifestation of a psychiatric illness. Till date this matter has been debated and no conclusion has yet been reached to, as it is not possible to perform metabolic tests.
It …show more content…
Hence, the paper by Ventura et al. recommends that DNA analysis along with appropriate genetic counselling and biochemical tests for the levels of porphyrins are the most accurate methods to diagnose porphyria. It is however, interesting to note that there still exists a lot of ambiguity in the field and based on the evidence presented it is still hard to diagnose King George III’s illness. Most critics of this diagnosis argue that diagnoses cannot be made solely on symptoms, even though they coin his illness to be Bipolar disorder based on his symptoms. It is interesting how this is a case debated till date with no solid
King George III was known for his episodes of ‘madness’ which were associated with constipation, weakness of the limbs, abdominal pain, tachycardia, darkened urine, seizures and hoarseness. According to Macalpine and Hunter, these symptoms were closely linked to the diagnosis of acute intermittent porphyria. The paper published in 1966 caused a ruckus in the field, as this was the first paper suggesting that King George III suffered from a physical illness. Prior to this, the common belief was that the he suffered from the somatic manifestation of a psychiatric illness. Till date this matter has been debated and no conclusion has yet been reached to, as it is not possible to perform metabolic tests.
It …show more content…
Hence, the paper by Ventura et al. recommends that DNA analysis along with appropriate genetic counselling and biochemical tests for the levels of porphyrins are the most accurate methods to diagnose porphyria. It is however, interesting to note that there still exists a lot of ambiguity in the field and based on the evidence presented it is still hard to diagnose King George III’s illness. Most critics of this diagnosis argue that diagnoses cannot be made solely on symptoms, even though they coin his illness to be Bipolar disorder based on his symptoms. It is interesting how this is a case debated till date with no solid