[R-G] Jack London -- and the Wolf Disease [Lupus]

[Hunter Gray]

I posted this the other day on our little Lupus discussion list.  It's worth
a broader look so I'm now posting it selectively.  H

NOTE BY HUNTER BEAR:

My oldest daughter, Maria, found this little piece.  Jack London, a native
of the California Bay Area, died in 1916 at the age of 40.  A well known
outdoor traveler and writer [Call of the Wild, the Sea Wolf, and much more],
he was also an active socialist throughout his adult life.  There has been a
continuing controversy in some circles about his cause of death -- suicide
has been felt by some to have been the culmination of his serious health
difficulties -- but much of this is clearly speculative.  Lupus, of course,
is hard enough to quickly diagnose with conclusiveness even when the person
is alive -- and this is an ex post facto reading decades after Jack London's
passing.  But I tender this along.  Call of the Wild was a favorite of my
father when he was a kid and he passed along his appreciation of London's
writing to me early on.  Best, H


Wolf Dying
      Dale L. Walker
      Afterword: The Wolf Disease


      n 1993, a new theory on Jack London's fatal disease came to light in
an article in the Journal of Rheumatology written by Charles W. Denko, M.D.,
of the Division of Rheumatic Disease, Case Western Reserve University School
of Medicine. Based upon his study of London's symptoms, beginning with the
self-diagnosis of scurvy in the Klondike in 1897-98, Denko believed the
author died of systemic lupus erythematosus. This chronic disease, in which
the body's immune system attacks connective tissue causing inflammation, is
"systemic" when it attacks such systems as kidneys, joints, and the heart.

      Denko asserted that London displayed lupus clues when he reported
contracting scurvy-with bleeding, swollen gums and joint pain-in the
Klondike in 1896, while others in his party, eating the same diet, showed no
signs of the ailment.

      In June 1898, at Anvik, Alaska, London wrote of eating fresh potatoes
and a can of tomatoes for his scurvy which he said "has now almost crippled
me from my waist down. Right leg drawing up, can no longer straighten it,
even in walking must put my whole weight on toes." London said his condition
improved after eating the vegetables but Denko stated that the scurvy
self-diagnosis was unlikely since hundreds of milligrams of vitamin C are
required for a cure, many times what could have been contained in the
vegetables London consumed.

      Denko wrote that the symptoms London described "could be better
explained as an attack of acute lupus involving the mouth and joints, two
areas commonly attacked by episodic lupus."

      London continued to have mouth and gum problems, the rheumatic
specialist said, together with severe headaches, facial neuralgia, pulmonary
problems, grippe, bronchitis, colds, chest pains, and pleurisy (diagnosed on
the transport when London was en route to Mexico in 1914), all common
manifestations of lupus.

      Denko said that London's skin problems-recurring rashes, urticaria,
itching and painful hands and peeling skin, thickened toenails, the other
dermatological disorders he experienced in the South Seas-were flare-ups of
lupus rather than the diagnosed psoriasis and pellagra. For the author's
repeated attacks of fever, diagnosed as malaria, he received antimalarial
drugs such as quinine, which Denko pointed out is a modern treatment for
lupus.

      Lupus erythematosus, Dr. Denko wrote, was the name used by early
observers of the disease to describe the severe lesions on the faces of
untreated victims that resembled wolf bites. "London's fame, in part, was
due to writing about wolves" he said. "Even his beautiful, ill-fated dream
house was given a 'wolf' association....It is ironic that Jack London
himself succumbed to an acute flare of lupus, the wolf disease."


HUNTER GRAY  [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR]   Mi'kmaq /St. Francis
 Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk
In the mountains of Eastern Idaho
 www.hunterbear.org
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´
 and Ohkwari'

Check out this significant honor: my 2005 Elder Recognition Award from
Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Story Tellers
http://www.hunterbear.org/elder_recognition_award_for_2005.htm

In our Gray Hole, the ghosts often dance in the junipers and sage, on the
game trails, in the tributary canyons with the thick red maples, and on the
high windy ridges -- and they dance from within the very essence of our own
inner being. They do this especially when the bright night moon shines down
on the clean white snow that covers the valley and its surroundings.  Then
it is as bright as day -- but in an always soft and mysterious and
remembering way. [Hunter Bear]