Department of Pediatrics, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39216 4505, USA.
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2009 Jun;63(6):497-9. doi: 10.1136/jech.2008.082958. Epub 2009 Feb 18.
The accomplishments of John Snow (1813-1858), physician-epidemiologist, inventor and anaesthetist to Queen Victoria, are well documented, but the causes of his untimely death at age 45 remain conjectural. Snow suffered a paralysing stroke while working on his magnum opus, On Chloroform and Other Anaesthetics, and died a few days later on 16 June 1858. Snow had a history of renal problems associated with tuberculosis. He also experimented on himself with ether, chloroform and other agents over several years, but whether this prolonged self-experimentation contributed to his early death is uncertain. A photograph of Snow taken in 1857 shows that the fingers of his right hand were swollen. Could this be a clue to the cause of his death? The "modern" view is that Snow's early tuberculosis and associated renal disease led to hypertension, chronic renal failure and stroke. The tuberculosis and renal involvement may have been worsened by vegetarianism and perhaps resulting vitamin D deficiency. However, the renal damage caused by tuberculosis is unlikely to have been progressive. Based on current evidence of renal toxicity associated with exposure to anaesthetic agents, it is perhaps more likely that extensive and prolonged self-experimentation with anaesthetics over a 9-year period led to Snow's renal failure, swollen fingers and early death from stroke.
约翰·斯诺（John Snow，1813-1858 年）是一位精通医学、流行病学、发明和维多利亚女王麻醉师的医生，他的成就有案可查，但他在 45 岁英年早逝的原因仍有待推测。斯诺在撰写巨著《氯仿及其他麻醉剂》时突然中风瘫痪，几天后于 1858 年 6 月 16 日去世。斯诺曾患有与结核病相关的肾脏问题。此外，他还在几年间对自己进行了乙醚、氯仿和其他药物的实验，但这种长期的自我实验是否导致了他的早逝还不确定。一张拍摄于 1857 年的斯诺的照片显示，他右手的手指肿胀。这会是他死因的线索吗？“现代”观点认为，斯诺早期的结核病和相关的肾病导致了高血压、慢性肾衰竭和中风。素食主义可能使他的结核病和肾脏问题恶化，并导致维生素 D 缺乏。然而，结核病引起的肾脏损伤不太可能是进行性的。根据目前与麻醉剂暴露相关的肾毒性证据，更有可能的是，他在 9 年时间里广泛而长期地对麻醉剂进行自我实验，导致了他的肾衰竭、手指肿胀，并最终因中风而过早去世。
