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George Washington: Malaria Episodes

   
 
Infections
malaria		 From the age of 17 to almost the end of his life, Washington had recurrent attacks of malaria. Malaria was then common in Virginia. Interestingly, an effective treatment for malaria had been discovered in the previous century. But for some reason, Washington did not receive the treatment until 1784, when he was in his 50s [3b]. To add to the mystery, soldiers in the Revolutionary Army were treated for malaria as early as 1776 [3c].

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 The table below is a chronology of Washington's malaria attacks, as compiled by Dr. Bumgarner [3d]: 
Age  Year  Comments
---  ----  --------
 17        First attack.
 30  1752  Developed after returning from campaign against Ft. Duquesne.
           Recovery required considerable time.
 39  1761  His last major attack -- 'dangerously ill.'
 52  1784  Treated with 'Peruvian bark.'
 66  1798  Responded poorly to the bark.
     Resources[Top]
Disclosure: Doctor Zebra gets a few pennies if you click & buy from Amazon.
  1. Blinderman A. George Washington's health. NY State Med J. 1975;75:122-132. Pubmed.

  2. Boller, Paul F. Jr. Presidential Anecdotes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. ISBN 0-19-502915-1 @ Amazon

  3. Bumgarner, John R. The Health of the Presidents: The 41 United States Presidents Through 1993 from a Physician's Point of View. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company, 1994. ISBN 0-89950-956-8 @ Amazon   [a] pp. 1-8 [b] pp. 1, 4, 6 (year might have been 1786) [c] p. 4 [d] pp. 1-6
        Devotes one chapter to each President, through Clinton. Written for the layperson, well-referenced, with areas of speculation clearly identified, Dr. Zebra depends heavily on this book. Dr. Bumgarner survived the Bataan Death March and has written an unforgettable book casting a physician's eye on that experience.

  4. Cooper, Pauline. The Medical Detectives. New York: David McKay, 1973. ISBN 0-679-50382-X @ Amazon

  5. Donald, David Herbert. Lincoln. New York: Touchstone / Simon & Schuster, 1996. ISBN 0-684-82535-X @ Amazon

  6. Dugan, James. Bedlam in the boudoir. Colliers. 22 Feb. 1947; pages 17, 69-70.
        Credibility is dubious. Just before a list of Presidents, the article states: "Twenty of the 32 Presidents ... are proved or believed on a thick web of circumstance to have been nocturnal nuisances in the White House."

  7. Flexner, James Thomas. Washington: The Indispensible Man. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974. ISBN 0-316-28616-8 @ Amazon
        Distillation of Flexner's four-volume biography of Washington published from 1965 to 1972.

  8. Gabriel, Richard A.; Metz, Karen S. A History of Military Medicine, Volume 2. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992. ISBN 0-313-28403-2 @ Amazon

  9. Grusin, Sarah. The root of the matter. Washington Post Magazine. Feb. 27, 1994;9.
        Part of the "J Street" column.

  10. Hayes H, Talbert G. The facial lesion of George Washington. Plast Reconstructive Surg. 1987;80:133-136. Pubmed.

  11. Henriques, Peter R. The Death of George Washington: He Died as He Lived. Mt. Vernon, VA: The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, 2000. ISBN 0-931917-035-2 @ Amazon   [a] p. vi (introduction by Philander D. Chase)

  12. MacMahon, Edward B. and Curry, Leonard. Medical Cover-Ups in the White House. Washington, DC: Farragut, 1987. ISBN 0-918535-01-8 @ Amazon

  13. Marion, Robert. Was George Washington Really the Father of our Country?. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1994. ISBN 0-201-62255-6 @ Amazon

  14. Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (ed). Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of American. 2nd ed. London: Burke's Peerage Limited, 1981. ISBN 0-85011-033-5 @ Amazon
        Enumerates the ancestors and descendants of American presidents up through Ronald Reagan.

  15. Morens DM. Death of a President. New Engl J Med. 1999:341;1845-1849. Pubmed.

  16. Smith, MJV. The father who was not a father. Virginia Medical Monthly. 1976;103:14-16, 21-22, 33.

  17. Smith, RN. The Surprising George Washington. Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration. 1994 (Spring);26 (1).
        Available on the web at: http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/spring_1994_george_washington_1.html

  18. Wallenborn, White McKenzie. George Washington's terminal illness: a modern medical analysis of the last illness and death of George Washington. [on line]. 31 March 1999.
        From the papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia. Accessed 17 December 2002.  http://www.virginia.edu/gwpapers/articles/wallenborn/index.html

  19. Web page: http://www.virginia.edu/gwpapers/faq/gwteeth.html
    (From the papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia)
        Picture of a set of Washington's dentures, complete with springs.

  20. The George Washington web page at the White House.

  21.  (59 matches when checked in November 2003)
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