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Associated Press are reporting: Disease May Have Caused Lincoln's Gait
January 27, 2006 04:07:23 PM PST
Quote:
Historians have long puzzled over whether Abraham Lincoln might have had a genetic disorder called Marfan syndrome, but new research has members of the beloved president's family tree wondering if his clumsy gait may actually have been caused by something else.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene mutation in 11 generations of relatives who descended from Lincoln's grandparents.
The gene causes spinocerebellar ataxia type 5, a degenerative neurological disorder that affects coordination, including walking, writing, speaking and swallowing. There's a 25 percent chance that Lincoln also inherited the mutation, said Laura Ranum, a genetics professor who led the research.
"Because the historical literature talks about his clumsy gait ... it raises the possibility that that was caused by a mutation in this gene," Ranum said.
But since Lincoln has no living direct descendants, confirming whether the nation's 16th president had the defective gene would require that his DNA be taken from historical artifacts and tested — an issue that has been debated over the years.
"What historical purpose would it serve? It (wouldn't) change the facts of how he became a great president," said Kim Bauer, Lincoln curator at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill. "I would fall on the side of leaving President Lincoln alone."
The new findings on the ataxia gene were reported this week in the online edition of the journal Nature Genetics. Since 1992, the Minnesota researchers have studied more than 300 members of the Lincoln family. About one-third of them have ataxia.
Terry Smith and Laurie Crary — both ataxia sufferers and descendants of Abraham Lincoln's uncle Josiah Lincoln — said they would like to know if the president had their disease.
"If a president had it, and he was disabled but still running the country, maybe people would lighten up on disabled people a little bit," said Smith, 57, of Manteca, Calif., who said he was once arrested for drunken driving because of the disease's symptoms.
Crary, 50, of Prescott, Ariz., said she has vertigo and had to have reconstructive surgery on her shoulder after losing her coordination and falling. If Lincoln had ataxia, that could offer hope for others suffering from it. About 150,000 Americans have the degenerative disease.
"Look what he achieved, even if he had this defective gene," Crary said.
In the 1990s, a geneticist asked the National Museum of Health and Medicine to test Lincoln's hair and bones to find out if the president had Marfan syndrome, a disorder that affects connective tissue, blood vessels and eyes, and can produce fatal abnormalities of major arteries. Marfan's sufferers often have unusual height and elongated fingers, toes and limbs — all characteristics of Lincoln.
But multiple panels decided "the greater public good is served by not destroying this non-renewable national historic treasure," according to the museum's Web site.
Bauer, the Lincoln museum curator, said that when Lincoln's tomb was renovated about 100 years ago, his last living son made it clear he did not want his father's remains disturbed.
That should be an overriding factor, Bauer said.
"His last living descendant, still alive, saying, 'Don't bother my father anymore.' ... If DNA testing was alive in the early 1900s, I think he would say the same thing," he said.
Ranum said researchers would need a small amount of Lincoln's DNA to test for the gene, which causes spinocerebellar ataxia type 5, or SCA5. The DNA could be found on a bloodstained garment or a hair sample. She said she would pursue a DNA test if the opportunity arose, but for now, her main concern is science.
Dr. Robert Y. Moore, a movement disorder specialist and a professor of neurology at the University of Pittsburgh, said the Minnesota research breaks ground "from the perspective that this is a mutation in a gene that has not been known to be involved in this sort of thing before."
For now, Ranum said the new discovery should lead to better diagnosis and possible future treatments and may help people decide whether to have children. The mutated gene is dominant, so there is a 50 percent chance a parent will pass it on.
Still, she said finding out whether Lincoln had the gene could help destigmatize the disease.
"Every aspect of Lincoln's life has been gone over with a fine-tooth comb," she said. "I think it is of historical interest."
Lincoln was supposed to have had a club foot which is not an uncommon complication of Marfan's Syndrome. According to Colin Dagnal, he required regular corn cutting and had his personal chiropodist, Zacharie. The corn cutter was in great demand and gave himself the title of Chiropodist General to the US Cavalry. Zacharie was a colourful character and many think he may have been a double agent giving his information to the Confederacy. It has also been postulated that Lincoln deliberately leaked disinformation to Zacherie knowing he would blindly pass it on. Whatever Lincoln and Zacharie became close friends and it is recorded that Lincoln's chiropodist was a frequent visitor to the Whitehouse. It is also recorded he visited the US Mint many times and misappropriated a fortune which he was never caught nor punished for.
Lincoln was supposed to have had a club foot which is not an uncommon complication of Marfan's Syndrome.
Marfan's syndrome does not cause "club foot" to my knowledge. Instead, Marfan's syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder that affects the production of fibrillin in connective tissue. People with Marfan's syndrome tend to have pes plano valgus foot structure, not "club foot".
Other than Lincoln, other "celebrities" that may have had, or currently have Marfan's syndrome, include Julius Caesar, Charles de Gaulle, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Mary Queen of Scots, violinist Niccolň Paganini, and possibly Charles Maurice de Talleyrand. A recent book suggested that the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) may also have had the condition. American politlcal columnist Ann Coulter allegedly suffers from Marfan syndrome. Osama bin Laden is also rumored to have Marfan syndrome.
Volleyball star Flo Hyman, a known Marfan sufferer, and musical theater composer Jonathan Larson, believed to have been a Marfan sufferer, both died of aortic dissection. Another World actor Brent Collins was a dwarf with Marfan syndrome, who eventually grew in a short spurt late in life, which led to his death. The late character actor Vincent Schiavelli suffered from Marfan syndrome, and was an honorary co-chairman of The National Marfan Foundation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfan's_syndrome
__________________
Sincerely,
Kevin
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Kevin A. Kirby, DPM
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Applied Biomechanics
California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College
Beg to differ on this one . Club foot is not uncommon to Marfan's Sydrome. Not typical I would agree but is found in association. No one is sure what the reason for this is and it may be a birth defect caused by an interuterine event.
Your link above is in reference to Loeys-Dietz syndrome, not Marfan's syndrome. I just checked McGlamry's Comprehensive Textbook of Foot and Ankle Surgery and also Steven DeValentine's Foot and Ankle Disorder's in Children and Marfan's syndrome was not listed as one of the etiologies of congenital talipes equinovarus deformity (clubfoot).
I would be interested if you could provide an academic text or published paper which states that clubfoot is not uncommon to Marfan's syndrome.
I have done a lot of reading on Marfan's syndrome and have provided the initial diagnosis of Marfan's syndrome on many patients even when they were in their 40s and 50s. However, in all my reading on the subject and observation of the feet of these individuals, I have never come across the notion that Marfan's syndrome is associated with congenital talipes equinovarus deformity.
__________________
Sincerely,
Kevin
**************************************************
Kevin A. Kirby, DPM
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Applied Biomechanics
California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College
As always I would need to bow to your superior knowledge. I profess no expretise in marfans. Lincoln did have a club foot however and I understand this is indicated in his famous statue.
As always I would need to bow to your superior knowledge. I profess no expretise in marfans. Lincoln did have a club foot however and I understand this is indicated in his famous statue.
Cheers
Cameron
Even though I haven't seen the statue at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in many years, I don't believe that his shoes in the statue looked abnormal in any way.
It was my understanding that Lincoln had flatfeet, but I am unsure of the source of this information. We do know that a few observers reported that he had a relatively unusual gait pattern which was described as being somewhat slow, awkward and ungainly. Whether this was due to Marfan's or the spinocerebellar ataxia, is unknown. However, I just finished listening to an audiobook two days ago "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which I found to be an excellent description of his political prowess and amazing personality. Abraham Lincoln simply functioned on a higher moral plane than any others of his era and is probably one of the most inspirational presidents of our relatively young country. Fascinating!
__________________
Sincerely,
Kevin
**************************************************
Kevin A. Kirby, DPM
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Applied Biomechanics
California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College
President Lincoln's Gait
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