[Beethoven's ringlets--from a medical point of view]

Ludwig van Beethoven suffered from various constitutional disorders, most publicly known his deafness. He died in 1827 from a decompensated liver cirrhosis. On his deathbed, admirers cut some ringlets from his head that can nowadays be used for scientific analyses. Hair analyses demonstrated that Beethoven was increasedly exposed to lead in his last 110 living days that may have contributed to the hepatic decompensation. The reason for the lead exposition was probably consumption of wines mixed with lead sugar, but also iatrogenic by lead-containing preparations administered for pneumonia in winter 1826/1827 as well as wound closure after puncturing for ascites four times.