Neurotoxicity of low-level lead exposure: History, mechanisms of action, and behavioral effects in humans and preclinical models.

Lead is a neurotoxin that produces long-term, perhaps irreversible, effects on health and well-being. This article summarizes clinical and preclinical studies that have employed a variety of research techniques to examine the neurotoxic effects of low levels of lead exposure. A historical perspective is presented, followed by an overview of studies that examined behavioral and cognitive outcomes. In addition, a short summary of potential mechanisms of action is provided with a focus on calcium-dependent processes. The current level of concern, or reference level, set by the CDC is 5 µg/dL of lead in blood and a revision to 3.5 µg/dL has been suggested. However, levels of lead below 3 µg/dL have been shown to produce diminished cognitive function and maladaptive behavior in humans and animal models. Because much of the research has focused on higher concentrations of lead, work on low concentrations is needed to better understand the neurobehavioral effects and mechanisms of action of this neurotoxic metal.

Did poor eyesight influence Goya's late works? Medicine and art history in search for an interpretation of Goya's late paintings.

PURPOSE: The aim of this article is to 'determine' the scope of Goya's eyesight difficulties and assess the extent to which those difficulties might explain his style of painting in the last years of his life. METHODS: We analyse the correspondence and late works of the Aragonese painter Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), who has been admired for his use of colour, his energetic loose brushstrokes, his disregard for details and his bold compositions, as well as for his different artistic styles throughout his life. RESULTS: The evolution of Goya's style of painting in his later works seems to have been the consequence of an eyesight condition, probably age-related cataracts at an advanced stage. The faded dark backgrounds, which become blurred with the silhouette of the person portrayed, could indicate a certain degree of eye strain. This can be traced in all these works, but is especially evident in the unfinished portrait of Pío de Molina (1827-1828), as well as in the portraits of Mariano Goya, the artist's grandson (1827), and Jacques Galos (1826). CONCLUSION: It has been considered that the late and isolated Goya's sight problems were a belated consequence of his severe illness of 1792. Nevertheless, in our opinion, this is a simplistic explanation and, given the painter's age, it is logical to presume that their cause could be age-related lens opacities. This article argues that medicine may become a subsidiary science to art history, as it can provide empirical evidence of the way painters' illnesses may have a strong impact on their artworks.

The lead-poisoned genius: saturnism in famous artists across five centuries.

Lead poisoning (saturnism) has been present throughout the history of mankind. In addition to possible ingestion from contaminated food, one of the most important ways in which poisoning caused morbid processes was by occupational exposure. This exposition was pandemic in the Roman Empire, and it has been claimed that it contributed to its fall, but it also caused numerous epidemics in Western countries until the nineteenth century. In the case of artists, and since the Renaissance period, this toxicity has been called painter's colic or painter's madness. The latter term is partly due to the mental disorders displayed by some of the great masters, including Michelangelo and Caravaggio, although it was long recognized that even house and industrial painters were prone to the disorder. This chapter examines the historical evidence of recognition of such toxicity and discusses the controversies raised by the possibility of professional lead poisoning in great artists. In addition to those mentioned above, many other artists across several centuries will be discussed, some being Rubens, Goya, Fortuny, Van Gogh, Renoir, Dufy, Klee, Frida Kahlo, and Portinari. This chapter also briefly mentions the possibility of lead poisoning in two famous composers: Beethoven and Handel. Whether suffering from lead poisoning or not, about which we cannot always be sure, we should still highlight and admire such geniuses fighting their disorders to bequeath us their immortals works.

[Deafness and mentality in Francisco Goya's paintings]. / Gluchota a psychika w malarstwie Franciszka Goi.

The famous painter Francisco Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) suffered during his life one or several diseases, the nature of which has not been determined with certainty. At age of 46, Goya suffered from severe illness that lasted a few months. It caused loss of vision and hearing, tinnitus, dizziness, a right-sides paralysis, weakness and general malaise. Although he recovered from a cerebral stroke which accompanied it, the deafness remained unaltered. The illness divides Goya's artistic life into two great different periods. After in the painter produces his greatest works. The visual experience after the illness was heightened by the exclusion of acoustics stimuli and the artist's talent rose to the highest level. His character became more withdrawn and introspective and his entire vitality was direscted to his painting. Goya's painting became progressively more gloom and satirical during his long convalescence. The artist suffered a stroke at age 73 that again rendered him paralysed on the right side. The precise cause of his illness has long been debated. Ome medical writers have favored the diagnosis of syphilis, some consider the possibility of an exogenous psychosis, and other suggests that the symptoms of the illness are more congruent with heavy metal poisoning, particulary lead. It is interesting to speculate how the Goya's deafness influenced the artist's mentality and the changes of his painting. Interesting is also the problem of the sensory compensation in fact of disturbance of physiological function of one of the senses.

Goya y su sintomatología miccional de Burdeos, 1825 / Goya and his lower urinary tract symptoms in Bordeaux, 1825

El célebre pintor don Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) padeció a lo largo de su vida una o varias enfermedades cuya naturaleza no ha sido determinada con seguridad. Los episodios mórbidos, parcialmente documentados, correspondientes a los años 1792-1793, acontecidos en Sevilla y Cádiz; 1819, en Madrid, y 1825, en Burdeos, pudieran estar relacionados entre sí. En éste último, los signos y síntomas urológicos que el ilustre enfermó presentó sí han quedado acreditados. El objetivo del presente trabajo es proponer, recurriendo al material que no es otro que el «Diplomatario de Goya», con las cartas y documentos que hasta la fecha han sido coleccionados y dados a conocer, pretendiendo observar un método inductivo-deductivo en su estudio e interpretación e interrelacionando estas valiosas fuentes tanto con los conocimientos médicos de la época como los contemporáneos, particularmente en lo que a sus aspectos urológicos se refiere, y revisando la bibliografía disponible al respecto, con las naturales reservas de un pronunciamiento diagnóstico retrospectivo que por tanto, por sus inherentes características, no puede ser de total certidumbre, la hipótesis de la tabes dorsal neurosifilítica como responsable de los trastornos miccionales que se le presentaron en Burdeos en la primavera de 1825. Igualmente, y de manera complementaria, se incluye un breve repaso de algunas de las circunstancias y personajes que rodearon al artista en Francia para ayudar a incardinar y comprender mejor la personalidad de Goya, ya por entonces anciano y enfermo (AU)

The famous painter Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) suffered during his life one or several diseases, the nature of which has not been determined with certainty. The partially documented morbid episodes that happened during the years 1792-1793 in Seville and Cadiz, 1819 in Madrid, and 1825 in Bordeaux could be related. In the latter one, the urological signs and symptoms the distinguished patient presented have been demonstrated. The objective of this paper is to propose the hypothesis of neurosyphilis' dorsal tabes responsible for the voiding disorders he presented in Bordeaux in the spring of 1825, having as a resource Goya's «diplomatario», with the letters and documents that have been collected and made known to date, with the purpose of using an inductive-deductive method for their study and interpretation, setting an interrelation between these valuable sources with both the medical knowledge of the period and the current, particularly in urological features, and reviewing the available bibliography on that topic, with the natural reserve about giving a retrospective diagnosis which cannot be completely true due to its inherent characteristics. In the same way, and as a complement, we include a brief review of some circumstances and characters that surrounded the artist in France to help to incardinate and better understand the personality of Goya, already old and sick at that time (AU)

Goya, Fortuny, Van Gogh, Portinari: el saturnismo en los pintores a lo largo de tres siglos / Goya, Fortuny, Van Gogh, Portinari: lead poisoning in painters across three centuries

Tras analizar los datos patobiográficos de cuatro geniales pintores que vivieron en tres siglos distintos (Goya [siglo XVIII], Fortuny y Van Gogh [siglo XIX] y Portinari [siglo XX]), en los cuales se sospechó una intoxicación por plomo, se concluye que la enfermedad que dejó sordo a Goya pudo ser causada por un saturnismo. En Fortuny dicho padecimiento, junto con la malaria, precipitaron su muerte. Este diagnóstico es más problemático en Van Gogh y únicamente una monografía defiende este proceso. Portinari ciertamente padeció un saturnismo que fue finalmente causa de su muerte. La fuente de la posible intoxicación pudo ser el alto contenido en plomo de las pinturas utilizadas

Patobiographic data of four brilliant painters who lived in three different centuries (Goya [XVIII], Fortuny and Van Gogh [XIX] and Portinari [XX]), were examined in search for a suspected lead poisoning. It is concluded that Goya's disease and deafness was probably caused by lead poisoning. Fortuny´s death was probably precipitated by this illness in conjunction with malaria. This diagnosis is more problematic in Van Gogh and only a monograph favouring this was found. Portinari certainly suffered from lead poisoning and that finally caused his death. The source of the possible poisoning could be the high lead content of theirs paintings

What ailed Goya?

At age 46, Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) suffered from a severe illness that lasted several months. It caused loss of vision and hearing, tinnitus, disorientation, weakness, abdominal distress, and general malaise. After a few months he recuperated but was left deaf forever. In addition to the physical effects, his emotional health and artwork were affected. The precise cause of this illness has long been debated. One early, but unlikely, hypothesis was that he had syphilis. Later conjectures have included Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and lead toxicity. Cogan's syndrome and vasculitis are additional possibilities, although neither is likely to have been Goya's diagnosis. An infectious disease such as meningitis, encephalitis, or malaria is far more likely. Quinine toxicity (cinchonism) may have complicated the illness.