Illness in Tarsus

[wim]

I'm writing a commentary on Curtius' episode of Alexander getting ill while bathing in the Cydnus river. But one problem that remains is the question what exactly was Alexanders disease.
I think after reading Curtius it's hypothermia.
But Arrian writes about insomnia, which according to some medical books I read absolutely isn't a sign of hypothermia.
Is there anybody with ideas about this problem? Or are there articles written about it? I couldn't find them, but maybe I didn't look on the right spot.Wim

[xxx]

Falciparum malaria is more likely.

[beausefaless]

"In The Footsteps Of Alexander The Great", Michael Woods mentions he had good old fashion dysentery, the shits, we all know what that's like and he had it bad, he was shitting everywhere, on himself and on his horse but he still found some strength to lead his men into battle but his closes friends at that period of time were the flies and the dung beetles.

[xxx]

That happens much later, not in Tarsus.

[beausefaless]

I stand corrected.

[beausefaless]

I apologize for being far off on my post with this subject. What kind of sickness can you get from swimging in cold water? I think the fatigue syndrome sounds as good as the other but who realy knows for sure, I hope you find what you want to hear.

[Thalestris]

Hypothermia is the result of the body's inability to adjust to sudden temperature; heat stroke is the body's natural reaction to extreme heat, thus physiologically the body goes through the stages of shock, that could lead to death without immediate medical attention. Now, Curtius describes the typical symptoms of hyperthermia, and if the record is accurate, it is hyperthermia that Alexander suffered due to the extreme temperature change his body endured by immersion in frigid, river water. Yes, fever could complicate the recovery, and because Alexander always demanded high-exertion from his body...well, there it is.Cheers,Amazon Queen

[beausefaless]

In my youth I would swim in many of cold rivers after a few minutes my body would become num and I swam for a good thirty min. I never got sick plus my physical self would become recharged but that was me and a few friends.

[marcus]

One of the things that we have to bear in mind is that Alexander had been hyperactive for a very long period before he swam in the Cydnus. He had just taken the army over the Cilician Gates, and rushed to Tarsus to prevent Arses from sacking it. A tremendous amount of physical activity, followed by a swim in very cold water would certainly bring on the cramps, and possibly a fever. However, Alexander appears to have got *very* ill, and was out of action for weeks - which suggests that there was something else just waiting to knock him out, which was brought on by the hypothermia. I think that's why the malaria theory came about, and it makes a lot of sense.All the bestMarcus

[nick]

Hi Tre, dag Wim,Having suffered from malaria twice - both the potential lethal falciparum and the 'benign' vivax strains - I would like to remind you that falciparum has an incubation period of exactly ten days. If Alexander suffered his first fever attack at the river in Kilikia, he must have been infected ten days before: on the 'relatively cool' Anatolian plateau or the Kilikian mountain passes. The Kilikian plains are still a minor malaria-risk area in our present time, but the Anatolian highlands aren't.Malaria comes with repetitive fever attacks - it goes up and down - you're feeling miserable one morning, perfectly healthy in the evening. I can't remember anything like that from our histories.Virus strains have the ability to change on short notice (Spanish flu in the aftermath of WW 1) and so they tend to behave in contrast with the general notion of evolution being a slow, time consuming proces. I can perfectly live with the concept that Alexander suffered a 'malaria-like' attack in Kilikia - but I seriously doubt that this was caused by the same strain of virusses that we tend to call 'falciparum' 2300 years later.Best regards -
NickP.S. Malaria falciparum is a very straightforward illness: or you die, or you don't. Surviving the desease probably grants you lifelong resistance (so my hospital doctors told me). If Alexander had overcome 'modern falciparum' in Kilikia, this might not have been his cause of death in 323 BC.

[xxx]

He was no doubt already ill with fever before he entered the Cyndus and had a convulsion/seizure from his temperature falling too fast. Alexander had a tendency to force himself to keep going until he would collapse, from fever, diarrhea, blood loss, you name it.This is 'typical' behavior for the King.

[marcus]

Absolutely, Tre. There had to be something lurking in his bloodstream, with the shock of the cold water acting as a catalyst.(I say "had to" with absolutely no medical knowledge, of course) :-)All the bestMarcus