Oliver Cromwell׳s Fatal Ague.
Although many people recognize Oliver Cromwell by name, few know more than the barest details of his life or his legacy, and fewer still of the "ague" that ended his brief reign as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and one of Britain׳s greatest generals. He died suddenly at age 59. Cromwell was the "terror of Europe" during that period. His physicians diagnosed his fatal disorder as "bastard tertian ague." A contemporary analysis of his clinical record, including one with the aid of the U.S. Department of Energy׳s supercomputer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, suggests that he died of an infection, possibly 2 infections acting in concert.
The Hospital Outcomes Program of Excellence (HOPE), VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan; The Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Sanjay
S
Saint
The Department of History, University of California, Riverside, California.
Thomas
T
Cogswell
Imaging Service, VA Maryland Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, Michigan; The Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Eliot
E
Siegel
The Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Electronic address: Philip.Mackowiak@va.gov.
Philip A
PA
Mackowiak
D004739:England; D049670:History, 17th Century; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections; D011057:Politics
Edocarditis; Enteric fever; Malaria; Oliver Cromwell