Sweating Sickness
If you have ever watched the show The Tudors or know your history, you probably came across a disease simply known as “the sweating sickness”. Beginning during the reign of King Henry VII of England, the sweating sickness was a mysterious and virulent disease which struck England and other parts of Europe from 1485-1551. Lord Mayors, Aldermen, and three sheriff’s were among the thousands that have been killed because of this deadly disease. The death would be sudden and the cause remains unknown to this day. The disease would begin with cold shivers, giddiness, and severe pains in the neck, shoulders, and limbs and obtain complete exhaustion. This was known as the cold stage.
After the cold stage came the hot and sweating stage after a few hours or so. During this stage, a sweat would break out with headaches, delirium, rapid pulse, and intense thirst would occur. Palpitation and problems of the heart would occur until the victim would feel a great sense of exhaustion and desire to sleep. If the patient would give in to his feelings and emotions to sleep, he would die. The cause of this disease like I have said before is still unknown but there are a few theories out there to help explain the cause. General dirt and sewage is the most popular of all the theories today. If you are interested in reading more about the sweating sickness, John Caius, wrote an eyewitness account of the disease at the time titled, A Boke or Counseill Against the Disease Commonly Called the Sweate, or Sweatying Sicknesse.
Works Cited/Further Reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweating_sickness
