Frida Kahlo’s condition identified 70 years after her death
Frida Kahlo, one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century, lived a life of fragile health and pain. According to researchers, this was her condition:
FAST DOWNLOAD
A team of researchers from the Guttmann Institute in Barcelona (Spain) has diagnosed the condition suffered by the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo 70 years after her death: cauda equina syndrome (CES) of traumatic origin.
Kahlo (1907–1954), one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century, lived a life of fragile health and pain, partly due to a traffic accident that left her with numerous after-effects and forced her to remain immobile for long periods.
Medical documents from the time indicate that the pain he suffered had multiple causes, such as fractures, immobilization, post-polio or spina bifida.
A study carried out by professionals from the Guttmann Institute, published in the Journal of Neurology, has concluded, after analysing the artist’s medical reports and documentation, that some of her symptoms could be caused by cauda equina syndrome (SCC) of traumatic origin.
What is cauda equina syndrome?
SCC is a condition caused by damage to the nerve roots in the lower part of the spinal cord and is, according to Guttmann’s researchers, the diagnosis that offers the most complete explanation of the symptoms that affected the artist’s life and work .
Born in 1907 in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Frida Kahlo contracted polio at the age of 6, a disease that left her with permanent after-effects, as her right leg was shorter and weaker than her left.
Two of her lumbar vertebrae, L3 and L4, were fractured and dislocated, and an iron railing caused a perforation of her abdomen, entering through her left hip and exiting through her vagina.
Following the accident, the Mexican painter spent a month in the hospital and two months recovering at home.
After this recovery period, she continued to experience fatigue and pain in her back, legs and genitals, and her condition worsened over time.
Between 1946 and 1950 alone, he underwent eight operations, yet continued to experience chronic pain and fatigue.
Researchers’ conclusion
Guttmann’s researchers have analysed documents from Kahlo’s doctor, Leo Eloesser, which indicate that the artist suffered, some time after the accident, “a decrease in sensitivity in the lower part of her body and a worsening of the condition of her right foot and leg.”
The authors of the research have concluded that reduced sensitivity in the legs, added to neuropathic pain (pain caused by injury or abnormal functioning of the nervous system) in the legs and genitals, coincide with the diagnosis of cauda equina syndrome (CES).
This syndrome, the authors of the study claim, would be a consequence of the accident and would explain part of Kahlo’s symptoms: intense back pain, pain in the legs and loss or alteration of sensitivity in the lower part of the body, including the genital areas.
The artist also referred in her writings to persistent sciatic pain and hypersensitivity to touch, also in the genital areas, which Guttmann’s researchers attribute, respectively, to continuous spontaneous pain and allodynia (a condition that causes pain from something that is not normally painful).
Both are neuropathic pains that could be related to SCC, say researchers from the Guttmann Institute, a reference center for neurorehabilitation with offices in Barcelona and Badalona.
“Cauda equina syndrome is a rare condition and its identification in historical patients such as Kahlo may help to better understand its symptoms and impact,” said Guttmann Institute neurologist and author of the article, Hatice Kumru.
Orthopedic corsets, inadequate treatment
With 21st century knowledge, researchers have concluded that orthopedic corsets, such as those depicted in his work “The Broken Spine,” were not the most appropriate treatment.
“It is now known that these methods can often lead to muscle atrophy, worsen pain and cause gait disturbances, which likely contributed to his disability,” Kumru said.
As for Kahlo’s diagnoses of post-polio and spina bifida, Guttmann’s researchers have found no references in her letters or in the available literature to symptoms compatible with these ailments prior to the accident.
Researchers have ruled out post-polio syndrome because symptoms usually appear 50 years after the illness – he suffered from polio at the age of 6 – and it is not associated with sensory deficit.
In 1953, due to gangrene, doctors amputated Kahlo ‘s right leg below the knee, and she died the following year.
