Year: 1990 Source: JAMA, v.264, no.4, (July 25, 1990), p.491-493 SIEC No: 19910120

The authors intend to correct the belief that Van Gogh’s medical problems resulted from epilepsy & madness by reviewing 796 of his personal letters to family & friends, written between 1884 & his suicide in 1890. They argue that the clinical descriptions in Van Gogh’s letters are those of a person suffering from Meniere’s disease, not epilepsy. The authors also point out that Meneire’s disease was not well known when Van Gogh died & that it often was misdiagnosed well into the 20th century.