King Henry VIII's health problems

[DonaCatalina]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42041766/ns/technology_and_science-science/

[redkimba]

Very interesting article.

(for a split-second, I had a worry about Scarborough's Henry VIII...)

[LadyFae]

Good article!  I'm in the boat with the people who believe that there has to be a major medical reason (or a few) to explain the enormous change that Henry went through and not just chock it up to "a hearty appetite."  There is much more to it than that.  However, as with how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop- "The world may never know."

[Bonny Pearl]

There is a show on one of the science or history channels that I have seen a few times that looks at his health and the injuries he had.  Interesting how they can figure all of this out now.

[SandrineDeLaTombe]

I read recently that archaeologists are planning, or at the least thinking about, to ask Queen Elizabeth if Henry can be exhumed so tests can be run to answer these questions.

[Merlin the Elder]

Very interesting article.

(for a split-second, I had a worry about Scarborough's Henry VIII...)

Me too! Scared the Wiz out of me!

[DonaCatalina]

I read recently that archaeologists are planning, or at the least thinking about, to ask Queen Elizabeth if Henry can be exhumed so tests can be run to answer these questions.

I would say that's the only way they'll find out anything at all, really.

[LadyStitch]

I would love a genetic test on Queen Victoria and her offspring. Supposidly they had a generic disorder  that no on is sure where it came from.

Then again how will the people feel if we dug up for testing say Abraham Lincolin?  Or would you want your great great grandfather  dug up for testing?
What I'm getting at is that Henry VII is a historical figure, AND is a blood realitive to Queen Elizabeth II. 

As a historical nut, I would love to know what caused his problems,  but as the daughter of a geneologist, would I want someone digging up my ancestors out of curiosity?  I can see both sides of the coin.

[Rowan MacD]

    I have long wondered if there might have been a genetic issue with Katherine and Anne's difficulty to carry to term, perhaps RH factor or some such blood issue that caused them to miscarry though the article seemed to ignore the fact that Katherine gave live birth 3 times, though her little princes only lived for a few months each time  (Princess Mary (later Mary I) was the only surviving child form Henry's first marriage).
 Hopefully, one day, archaeologists will be allowed to run genetic tests on all the royals.  Particularly those poor souls buried under the floor in the St. Peter ad Vincula chapel.  They are still not 'sorted out' completely due to the sheer number of bodies buried there during the reign of Henry VIII. The last time the bones were exhumed was in Victorian times, when they did not have the scientific know how to ID skeletal remains.  
  Anne Boleyn's alleged grave could either be hers,  Katherine Howard's or even Lady Jane Grey's. Nobody knows for sure.  They just know the bodies belong to young, middling height females who were decapitated.   Sad.

[Wolfhawker]

Well, as a Genealogist (non-professional)< would whole-heartily support exhuming my folks, and historical folks to have the bodies/remains tested.  If it will answer question, then there is no reason not to, in my opinion, exhume the remains.

[SandrineDeLaTombe]

I would love a genetic test on Queen Victoria and her offspring. Supposidly they had a generic disorder  that no on is sure where it came from.

I vaguely remember something about some interbreeding with the Russian tsar line, as they had a similar genetic disorder. I could be making that up or conflating this with another story though, I freely admit.