title: The death of Buddha: a medical enquiry.
abstract: The death of the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) has been depicted widely in Buddhist iconography. The Buddha is generally shown with a serene or smiling expression, lying on his right side and resting his head on his right hand. The dates of Buddha's life traditionally are given as 566-486 BC. Buddha died from an illness, the nature of which remains unsettled. The present paper examines a variety of sources and concludes that it was tainted pork that led to his demise. He succumbed to the disease pig-bel, a necrotizing enteritis caused by the toxins of Clostridium perfringens infection.
authors.affiliation: chenclan@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Thomas S N
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Peter S Y
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D002016:Buddhism / Q000266:history*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000266:history* / Q000401:mortality; D003016:Clostridium perfringens; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000266:history* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality; D005197:Famous Persons; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans