Re: Alexandra and her Health Part 2

[Erika]

I just received "Purple Secret" as a Christmas gift which is a book about the genetic illnesses in the British Royal family.  It presents a strong case for the existence of porphyria in many of the descendants of King George III which would include Alexandra.  I stand by my previous statement, that I think she had porphyria.  It is an excellent read for anyone interested in further studying the illnesses of the Empress.

I just read about porphyria and it seems possible that she suffered from it. I must add something to the rosacea discussion. People who have rosacea very often have problems with their eyes. It feels like their eyes are burning, espacially in the winter. I think I remember reading somewhere that Alix's eyes did trouble her in her later years. But I don't remember reading what kind of eye trouble she had. She maybe just suffered from bad eye sight as she got older...

[Helen]

In 1911, Alix wrote that her eyes had gone bad as a result of too much writing, reading and sewing. She often did this while resting on a couch, possibly by poor lamplight.

[Erika]

In 1911, Alix wrote that her eyes had gone bad as a result of too much writing, reading and sewing. She often did this while resting on a couch, possibly by poor lamplight.

Thank you Helen!

[carkuczyn]

I am having trouble believing that she had an "eyesight" problem due to aging in 1911.  She would have been only 39 years old.

[Lalee]

I have also read that she had trouble with her eyes, and that she had to wear glasses whenever she did those things.

Wasn't her eyesight also bad from a lot of crying?

[nena]

Yes from crying and too often sewing. And many night without sleeping,and nervous problems caused by worrying for Aleksei. Poor the Tsarina.

[Helen]

I am having trouble believing that she had an "eyesight" problem due to aging in 1911.  She would have been only 39 years old.

39 is not an unusual age to need reading glasses. People's eye sights start to deteriorate due to old age at about the age of 40 years, and nowadays many people start wearing reading glasses somewhere in their early forties. If Alexandra had read and written by poor lamplight a lot, it may very well be that she had difficulty focusing, especially when she was tired.

I just received "Purple Secret" as a Christmas gift which is a book about the genetic illnesses in the British Royal family.  It presents a strong case for the existence of porphyria in many of the descendants of King George III which would include Alexandra.  I stand by my previous statement, that I think she had porphyria.  ...

"Purple Secret" mentions the DNA tests performed to identify the remains found in Siberia, but does not provide any evidence that Alexandra suffered from porphyria; I think it does not even discuss the question whether her various health problems might have been caused by porphyria. And for good reasons, I think: Alexandra suffered from back problems, headaches, fatigue, anxiety at public functions, and an 'enlarged heart' (cardiomegaly?), but not from symptoms common in porphyria patients such as abdominal pains, vomiting, seizures, hallucinations, paranoia, depression, etc.; the clinical picture of her health problems does not seem to fit that of porphyria.

[historyfan]

I am having trouble believing that she had an "eyesight" problem due to aging in 1911.  She would have been only 39 years old.

39 is not an unusual age to need reading glasses. People's eye sights start to deteriorate due to old age at about the age of 40 years, and nowadays many people start wearing reading glasses somewhere in their early forties. If Alexandra had read and written by poor lamplight a lot, it may very well be that she had difficulty focusing, especially when she was tired.

I'm 31, and I'm noticing a diminishing ability to see distances.  (Mind you, out of my entire family, I'm the last one to need glasses!)  That Alexandra (or anyone) would need reading glasses at 39 is not at all farfetched to me.

[EmmyLee]

Helen Rappaport listed off quite a few ailments for Alexandra:
-eyesight
-heart pain and shortness of breath from nervous anxiety
-sciatica
-facial neuralgia (I don't think I'd ever heard of her suffering from this)
-cyanosis
-acute earache
-swollen legs
-severe headaches

[amartin71718]

I read in Ella: Princess, Saint, and Martyr that their mother suffered from neuralgia. I also looked up possible causes of cyanosis. They are:

Abnormal hemoglobin levels
Bronchospasm
Congenital heart disease
Heart failure
Heart valve disease
High altitude
Hypothermia
Hypoventilation
Lung disease
Myocardial infarction
Polycythaemia
Pulmonary embolism
COPD (Emphysema and Chronic Bronchitis)
Asthma
Methemoglobinemia
Tetralogy of Fallot
Right to left shunts in heart or great vessels

[Helen]

Exactly! The Empress suffered from various symptoms, the severity and causes of which cannot be established properly any more. The symptoms  mentioned have several possible causes, as Marty_1994 pointed out correctly, so layman's attempts to 'diagnose' the Empress more than a hundred years after her death are just speculation.

[historyfan]

Forgive me if I sound slightly defensive.  Since I authored the original post on this thread, I can't help but feel so.

My intent here was discussion.  I learned a lot!  I'd never heard of porphyria, or cyanosis, and I discovered that the Empress suffered from symptoms I wasn't aware she'd suffered from.  It helped me.  I was well aware that any discussion herein would be nothing more than speculation and that most symptoms have any number of causes.

Am I alone in finding a little speculation an indulgent treat every now and again?  I am, after all, not a "serious historian", just someone interested in learning more.

That's all. 

[EmmyLee]

No, not at all, historyfan! I think it's just fine for us to speculate about what ailed Alexandra and what may have caused it. I agree that such discussions as this help us to discover new things we didn't know, even if there's no way we can know for sure that we're right about these diagnoses. I think this is a very interesting thread, and I'm glad you started it. 

[Helen]

I politely disagree. It may be fine to wonder whether Alexandra's eyesight had deteriorated due to too much reading or crying, but I think that suggestive speculation about serious disorders when it is clear that Alexandra did not suffer from the most common symptoms of these disorders is overstepping the mark. This is just my opinion, of course.

[Janet Ashton]

FWIW, I believe that tests were done several years ago on some of the Empress's remains in the hope of either finding or ruling out the genetic mutation that was found in some of her relations believed to suffer from porphyria (e.g. Charlotte of Prussia). The test on Alexandra was negative.