A New Explanation for the Reproductive Woes and Midlife Decline of Henry Viii

Whitley, Catrina Banks; Kramer, Kyra

doi:10.1017/s0018246x10000452

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…It has been postulated that Henry VIII of England suffered from McLeod syndrome, as an explanation for the apparent change in his personality in adulthood, in addition to his inability to father a son [ 103 ]. However, as refuted elsewhere [ 104 ], McLeod syndrome does not affect fertility, and is not transmitted to male children, thus would not cause death in utero nor of male infants.…”

Section: Mcleod Syndromementioning

confidence: 99%

Untangling the Thorns: Advances in the Neuroacanthocytosis Syndromes

Walker

2015

JMD

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There have been significant advances in neuroacanthocytosis (NA) syndromes in the past 20 years, however, confusion still exists regarding the precise nature of these disorders and the correct nomenclature. This article seeks to clarify these issues and to summarise the recent literature in the field. The four key NA syndromes are described here–chorea-acanthocytosis, McLeod syndrome, Huntington’s disease-like 2, and pantothenate kinase- associated neurodegeneration. In the first two, acanthocytosis is a frequent, although not invariable, finding; in the second two, it occurs in approximately 10% of patients. Degeneration affecting the basal ganglia is the key neuropathologic finding, thus the clinical presentations can be remarkably similar. The characteristic phenotype comprises a variety of movement disorders, including chorea, dystonia, and parkinsonism, and also psychiatric and cognitive symptoms attributable to basal ganglia dysfunction. The age of onset, inheritance patterns, and ethnic background differ in each condition, providing diagnostic clues. Other investigations, including routine blood testing and neuroimaging can be informative. Genetic diagnosis, if available, provides a definitive diagnosis, and is important for genetic counseling, and hopefully molecular therapies in the future. In this article I provide a historical perspective on each NA syndrome. The first 3 disorders, chorea-acanthocytosis, McLeod syndrome, Huntington’s disease-like 2, are discussed in detail, with a comprehensive review of the literature to date for each, while pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration is presented in summary, as this disorder has recently been reviewed in this journal. Therapy for all of these diseases is, at present, purely symptomatic.

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Section: Mcleod Syndromementioning

confidence: 99%

Untangling the Thorns: Advances in the Neuroacanthocytosis Syndromes

Walker

2015

JMD

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“…However, before his fortieth birthday, he began to undergo a personality change, becoming one of the worst of English monarchs, a paranoid, egotistical and brutal tyrant. 1,2 There were many executions during his reign, particularly in the later years. The more fortunate victims were beheaded with a single stroke, the less fortunate by several strokes, sometimes preceded by the horrendous ritual of being hung, castrated and eviscerated.…”

Section: Henry VIIImentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, he did suffer from immobility requiring a tramme, a chair with four poles attached. 1 Given this, it is debatable whether Henry displayed the MLS picture or not. Interestingly, Singleton 22 reported a case of MLS who developed slight dementia and aggressive behaviour.…”

Section: Henry and Mcleod Syndromementioning

confidence: 99%

Henry VIII, McLeod syndrome and Jacquetta’s curse

Stride¹,

Floro²

2013

J R Coll Physicians Edinb

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The mental decline of King Henry VIII from being a jovial, charismatic and athletic young man into an increasingly paranoid, brutal tyrant in later life, ever more concerned at his lack of one or more male heirs, has attracted many medical diagnostic theories. Previous hypotheses have included diabetes, syphilis and hypothyroidism, among others. However, these inadequately explain Henry's failure to produce a male heir, despite multiple pairings. The latest postulated diagnoses for Henry are the coexistence of both Kell blood group antigenicity (possibly inherited from Jacquetta Woodville, Henry's maternal great grandmother) causing related impaired fertility, and McLeod syndrome, causing psychotic changes. As the mutated McLeod protein of the syndrome significantly reduces the expression, effectively inactivating the Kell antigen, we critically review this theory, examining in detail the pathophysiology of these conditions and assessing the genealogy of Henry VIII and its effect in subsequent generations.

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“…Mutations in tudor result in offspring lethality or infertility (Boswell and Mahowald 1985;Golumbeski et al 1991). Hence, the reference to English House of Tudor king Henry VIII whose blood group anomaly is thought to be the cause of the numerous miscarriages suffered by his wives (Whitley and Kramer 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%