Thread: Slow, Lethal Illness

I have a story set in 1901, mostly in England, and there's a character who needs to develop some sort of fatal illness. I want to stay away from using tuberculosis or a tumor of some sort, but ideally it would be something that he develops fairly suddenly (possibly genetic), causes mental problems and physical weakness/loss of control, and would have him die within two to three years. I'm thinking Huntington's disease at the moment, but that has about a twenty-year life expectancy.
He's a Caucasian male, mid-twenties, fairly upper-class and extremely intelligent. Near the end of the story he needs to become extremely confused and aggressive, and would ideally need a wheelchair oftentimes. Thank you.

One of the types of Motor Neurone disease would fit the bill, though its name would indicate that it was identified rather later than the early 1900s. Somewhere on the web there will be a chronological list of the discovery dates of various fatal illnesses and their symptoms. Remember though that a disease which now has a 20 year life expectancy may only have had a 3 year survival rate in 1900, as there were no ameliorating drugs and no clinical/medical support system, I expect that people with a disease like Parkinsons may well have eventually died of malnutrition.

I was thinking polio, but it only lasts 2-10 days, with disability possibly being permanent. I guess your wanting something with longer suffering?

I ofund this answer, but all seem short lived:

There were a whole bunch of fatal diseases during that time: TB, the influenza outbreak, diphtheria, typhoid fever, typhus, etc. It's important to remember that hygiene and sanitation were not that great in the US at that time and there no were antibiotics either, so diseases spread like wildfire

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searched "Fatal diseases of 1900"

Of course, rehab/ nursing care was almost non-existant, so people died of secondary problems. If you lay to long you get sores, blood clots, and when you don't use muscles they shrink, eventually the person can't get up.

Life expectency in 1900's: 48yrs old.

I don't know much about Syphilis, but that's the first one that comes to mind. I don't know if that would put him in the wheelchair, but it would definitely make him go crazy and then die. Also, I'm pretty sure that Syphilis was a fairly big problem around that time period.

Originally Posted by themooresho

I don't know much about Syphilis, but that's the first one that comes to mind. I don't know if that would put him in the wheelchair, but it would definitely make him go crazy and then die. Also, I'm pretty sure that Syphilis was a fairly big problem around that time period.

The effects of syphilis vary greatly from person to person, some function well into their 50s; Hitler for instance, Lord Randolph Churchill; it doesn't neccessarily cripple - I suppose like many diseases it depends on your particular autoimmune system. The implication of syphilis is of a louche personality, a frequenter of loose women...

Actually, now that I've kept writing, I think I may be using something poisonous to get these effects. The character himself is obsessed with good health and living longer, so I was thinking he may be taking medicine with something toxic in it like mercury. Fortunately, he's not actually present for most of the story, so I could probably fudge the illness' timeline a bit...

Syphilis is good, too. I hadn't thought of that one.

Originally Posted by themooresho

I don't know much about Syphilis, but that's the first one that comes to mind.

Syphilis takes too long and he would've more likely to of been brain affected and gone to an insane asylum (Syphilis being responsible for 10% of all asylum admissions prior to treatment availability).

Originally Posted by Bloggsworth

The implication of syphilis is of a louche personality, a frequenter of loose women...

Now you tell me!