Beethoven wanted his hearing loss to be explained to the public after his death. Nearly two centuries later, researches were able to uncover secrets about his health - and family tree.
Five locks of Ludwig van Beethoven's hair have been used to help uncover information about the German composer's health. Beethoven, who died in 1827, notably had several health problems and wanted his favorite physician, Dr. Johann Adam Schmidt, to give the public information on the disorder that caused his hearing loss.
They then attempted a genomic analysis to determine what caused the health issues that plagued his life and career – including a hearing loss and gastrointestinal problems. They also made another unexpected discovery – Beethoven's Y chromosome, the chromosome that determines the sex of a male human, didn't match his living relatives.
Beethoven, known for composing symphonies like"Für Elise," started experiencing hearing loss in his 20s and went complete deaf by 1818. He believed he was"hopelessly afflicted" by the hearing loss and said he would have committed suicide because of it, but didn't want to die"before I had produced all the works that I felt the urge to compose."
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