Has the 120-year-old mystery of Sir Ernest Shackleton s deteriorating health finally been solved? Antarctic explorer had to return home after voyaging close to the South Pole in 1901 due to a bout of beriberi and NOT scurvy, new study claims
Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton came close to the South Pole in 1901
The explorer had to return home after struggling with deteriorating health
Previous theories suggested was linked to scurvy or a congenital heart defect
A team explored the health condition of others on the same 1901 expedition US researchers say their findings suggest that the British explorer suffered from beriberi, a serious and potentially life-threatening condition
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BOSTON - Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) appear to have solved the 120-year-old mystery surrounding the failing health of famed Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton over the course of his daring expeditions to Antarctica in the early part of the twentieth century. In a paper published online in the
Journal of Medical Biography, the team moved beyond past theories of congenital heart defect and scurvy advanced by physicians and historians to conclude that the British explorer suffered from beriberi, a serious and potentially life-threatening condition caused by a deficiency of the nutrient thiamine. Historians have traditionally looked at Shackleton s symptoms in isolation and speculated about their cause, says lead author Paul Gerard Firth, MD, head of the Division of Community and Global Health in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at MGH. We looked at other explorers on the expedition, as well as members of other