https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2023.1570
Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, and gout
Published: 17 July 2023
Abstract Views: 833
PDF: 512
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was an experienced physician who treated gouty patients. A gouty character appears in The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter, a Sherlock Holmes novel. This offers the possibility of discussing gout from the peculiar perspective of a medical writer in light of the historical-medical context of the time. This study was conducted using Conan Doyle’s autobiographical, scientific, and literary primary sources, as well as past and current medical literature. The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter was autobiographical. Conan Doyle himself was a rugby player and his wife died of tuberculosis. Furthermore, in 1884, in The Lancet, he described the hereditary case of a female gouty patient, presenting with ocular manifestations. In agreement with the concept of rich man’s gout, the gouty patient of Sherlock Holmes’ story, Lord Mount James, was a rich irascible noble but he was not addicted to the pleasures of food and sex. Following the usual funny representation of gouty patients, Conan Doyle made fun of Lord Mount James, but he misquoted a true case of gout cited in the literature. In his scientific and literary production on gout, Conan Doyle stuck to the most updated medical concepts of the time, demonstrating an uncommon knowledge of scientific literature.
Conan Doyle A. The romance of medicine. St. Mary's Hospital Gazette 1910; 16: 100-6.
Conan Doyle A. The adventure of the missing three quarter. Strand Magazine 1904; 28: 123-5.
Lellenberg J, Stashower D, Foley C. Arthur Conan Doyle a life in letters. New York: The Penguin Press, 2007.
Conan Doyle A. Memories and adventures. London, UK: Hodder and Stoughton, 1924: 17-28.
Marshall F. The four three-quarter system. Chums 1893; 1: 398.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s8-III.73.398a
Budd A. Past development in rugby football and the future of the game. In: Marshall F, editor. Football: the rugby union game. London: Cassell and Company, 1892: 115-38.
Conan Doyle A. The remote effects of gout. Lancet 1884; 2: 978-9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)28955-2
Fothergill JM. Gout in its protean aspects. Detroit: George S. Davies, 1883.
Boyle JA, Campbell S, Duncan AM, Greig WR, Buchanan WW. Serum uric acid levels in normal pregnancy with observations on the renal excretion of urate in pregnancy. J Clin Pathol 1966; 19: 501-3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/jcp.19.5.501
Fagge CH, Pye-Smith PH. The principles and practice of the medicine. London: J. and A. Churchill, 1891: 676.
Reginato AM, Mount DB, Yang I, Choi HK. The genetics of hyperuricaemia and gout. Nat Rev Rheumatol 2012; 8: 610-21.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2012.144
Barranco-Trabi J, Mank V, Minns R, Ryan R, Roberts J. Ocular manifestations in gout: an unusual presentation of gout. Clin Rheumatol 2022; 41: 1613-4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-022-06084-4
Asz-Sigall D, Arenas R, Dominguez-Cherit J, Vega-Memije ME. Gouty tophi: the great mimicker. Med Cuban Iber Lat Am 2005; 33: 76-9. [Article in Spanish]
Von Strümpell A. A text-book of medicine for students and practitioners. New York: Appleton and Company, 1887: 929.
Centenary banquet: held at the hotel cecil, monday, may 22nd, 1905. Med Chir Trans 1905; 88: cl-clxxvii.
Watson H. An account of a gouty body, dissected. Medical Communications 1784; 1: 86-94.
Parkinson J. Observations on the nature and cure of gout. London: H.D. Symonds, 1805: 5-9.
Ring J. A treatise on the gout. London: J. Callow, 1811.
Scudamore C. A further examination of the principles of the treatment of gout with observations on the use and abuse of colchicum. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman, 1833: 23.
Watson T. Lectures on the principles and practice of physic. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1848: 814.
Garrod AB. The nature and the treatment of gout and rheumatic gout. London: Walton and Maberly, 1859: 186-8.
Loomis AL. A system of practical medicine (volume 4). Philadelphia: Lea Bors. and Company, 1898: 1017.
Peters C. England and the english. London: Hurst and Blackett, 1904.
Cleave, T. L. Saccharine disease: the master disease of our time. New Canaan: Keats Publishing, 1975: 175.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-7236-0368-9.50016-1
Buchanan WW, Bálint G, de Ceulaer K. Clinical examination of the musculoskeletal system. Philadelphia: Lippincot William and Wilkins, 1997: 55.
How to Cite
Damiani, E. (2023). Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, and gout. Reumatismo, 75(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2023.1570
Copyright (c) 2023 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
Similar Articles
- F. Oliviero, E. Pascual, L. Punzi, Detection and identification of crystals in synovial fluid , Reumatismo: Vol. 57 No. 3 (2005)
- G. Tamborrini, T. Hügle, V. Ricci, G. Filippou, Ultrasound imaging in crystal arthropathies: a pictorial review , Reumatismo: Vol. 75 No. 4 (2023)
- E. Filippucci, A. Ciapetti, W. Grassi, Sonographic monitoring of gout , Reumatismo: Vol. 55 No. 3 (2003)
- B.M. Rothschild, A. Coppa, PP. Petrone, “Like a virgin”: Absence of rheumatoid arthritis and treponematosis, good sanitation and only rare gout in Italy prior to the 15th century , Reumatismo: Vol. 56 No. 1 (2004)
- A.J.L. Ferrari, A.R. Corrêa Fernandes, R. de Almeida Agustinelli, H. Seike, E. de Ávila Fernandes, Tophi reduction: ultrasound imaging and correlation with plasma levels of uric acid in patients undergoing treatment for tophaceous gout , Reumatismo: Vol. 71 No. 2 (2019)
- G. Fornaciari, V. Giuffra, Rheumatic diseases at the court of the Medici of Florence: the so-called “gout” of the Medici , Reumatismo: Vol. 61 No. 3 (2009)
- D.S. Meena, D. Kumar, G.K. Bohra, Acute severe gouty arthritis secondary to isotretinoin toxicity in a young male: a case report , Reumatismo: Vol. 75 No. 3 (2023)
- G. Ceccarelli, Archeology in Medicine: Digging up into the tophi of Popes, Dukes and Kings , Reumatismo: Vol. 55 No. 2 (2003)
- L. Punzi, M. Chia, S. Cipolletta, C. Dolcetti, P. Galozzi, O. Giovinazzi, S. Tonolo, R. Zava, F. Pazzaglia, The role of architectural design for rheumatic patients’ wellbeing: the point of view of Environmental Psychology , Reumatismo: Vol. 72 No. 1 (2020)
- F.J. Aceves-Avila, M.A. Delgadillo-Ruano, C. Ramos-Remus, A. Gómez-Vargas, The “Hospital Real de San Josef de los Naturales” and the rheumatic conditions found in New Spain during sixteenth century , Reumatismo: Vol. 54 No. 1 (2002)
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
