@article {White98, author = {K G White}, title = {Jane Austen and Addison{\textquoteright}s disease: an unconvincing diagnosis}, volume = {35}, number = {2}, pages = {98--100}, year = {2009}, doi = {10.1136/jmh.2009.001453}, publisher = {Institute of Medical Ethics}, abstract = {Jane Austen{\textquoteright}s letters describe a two-year deterioration into bed-ridden exhaustion, with unusual colouring, bilious attacks and rheumatic pains.In 1964, Zachary Cope postulated tubercular Addison{\textquoteright}s to explain her symptoms and her relatively pain-free illness. Literary scholars later countered this posthumous diagnosis on grounds that are not well substantiated, while medical authors supported his conclusion.Important symptoms reported by contemporary Addison{\textquoteright}s patients{\textemdash}mental confusion, generalised pain and suffering, weight loss and anorexia{\textemdash}are absent from Jane Austen{\textquoteright}s letters. Thus, by listening to the patient{\textquoteright}s perspective, we can conclude it is unlikely that Addison{\textquoteright}s disease caused Jane Austen{\textquoteright}s demise.Disseminated bovine tuberculosis would offer a coherent explanation for her symptoms, so that Cope{\textquoteright}s original suggestion of infective tuberculosis as the cause of her illness may have been correct.}, issn = {1468-215X}, URL = {https://mh.bmj.com/content/35/2/98}, eprint = {https://mh.bmj.com/content/35/2/98.full.pdf}, journal = {Medical Humanities} }