A 24-year-old woman experienced intense burning sensations in her legs, with pain radiating from her thighs down to her toes. Two days after the discomfort started, she sought help at an outpatient clinic, where she was diagnosed with a rare disease linked to a medieval plague, which ultimately led to her losing a body part.
When doctors examined her, they noticed her feet had turned discolored, and she was struggling to walk. Despite complaining of a burning sensation, her legs felt cold to the touch. Upon further investigation, they found no pulse in the popliteal and dorsalis pedis arteries, raising concerns about the severity of her condition.
A CT scan revealed that her arteries had narrowed, and after receiving a blood thinner, her pain subsided significantly, and her legs began to warm as blood flowed through them. Unfortunately, gangrene developed in one of her toes, leading to the need for amputation.
So, what is the ancient “holy fire” disease she was diagnosed with?
It’s called ergotism, a condition caused by consuming ergot, a natural fungus that grows on wheat.
Ergot poisoning leads to severe symptoms such as convulsions, hallucinations, and gangrene. In medieval times, the condition was often linked to demons or believed to be a form of demonic possession.
A study published in the National Library of Medicine, titled “One holy man, one eponym, three distinct diseases. St. Anthony’s fire revisited,” delves into the history of ergotism. It explains that the first recorded instance of a gangrenous ergotism outbreak in Europe occurred in 857 in Germany. Additional outbreaks were reported in France, Germany, and Scandinavia, with a total of 83 ergotism epidemics recorded across Europe from 945 AD onward. However, this list is likely incomplete.
The German physician Wendelin Thelius, who described an epidemic in 1596 in the Kingdom of Hesse, was the first to identify ergotism as the underlying cause.
It wasn’t until 1676 that the cause was traced to infected rye, specifically the Claviceps Purpurea fungus, which produces ergot. However, it wasn’t until 1778 that measures were introduced to combat the disease.
The study further noted that French physician Tessier witnessed a massive epidemic in 1778 in Sologne, France, where over 8,000 people died. He recommended various measures, including the drainage of fields, mandatory cleaning of grain, and replacing infected grain with potatoes, in order to prevent further outbreaks.
