scottb
04-18-2002, 10:52 PM
Some interesting notes:
At the 52nd annual meeting of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry in San Francisco, California, Dr. Paul Wolf of the University of California at San Diego presented some fascinating information about the glycoside digoxin and how it may have affected the creativity of Vicent van Gogh (1853-1890). Van Gogh's epilepsy was treated with digoxin from the foxglove plant (Digitalis purpurea). His famous work, "The Starry Night" contains yellow circles around the stars, which are similar to visual problems described by patients with digoxin toxicity even today.
Van Gogh also drank the liqueur absinthe on a regular basis. Absinthe is a green, bitter liqueur primarily flavored with wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), a European herbaceous perennial related to the native sagebrush species (Artemisia) of the western United States. According to Dr. Wolf, absinthe also contains thujone, a terpenoid component of many essential oils, including those found in Artemisia and the coniferous genus Thuja. Research has shown that thujone not only fuels creativity, but also that an overdose of the compound causes yellow-tinged vision. Either absinthe or digoxin toxicity may have contributed to van Gogh's increasing use of the color yellow in the last years of his life. Or perhaps van Gogh may simply have loved the color yellow.
A great resource on this:
http://www.vangoghgallery.com/forum/forum_01.htm
Cheers.
Scott
At the 52nd annual meeting of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry in San Francisco, California, Dr. Paul Wolf of the University of California at San Diego presented some fascinating information about the glycoside digoxin and how it may have affected the creativity of Vicent van Gogh (1853-1890). Van Gogh's epilepsy was treated with digoxin from the foxglove plant (Digitalis purpurea). His famous work, "The Starry Night" contains yellow circles around the stars, which are similar to visual problems described by patients with digoxin toxicity even today.
Van Gogh also drank the liqueur absinthe on a regular basis. Absinthe is a green, bitter liqueur primarily flavored with wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), a European herbaceous perennial related to the native sagebrush species (Artemisia) of the western United States. According to Dr. Wolf, absinthe also contains thujone, a terpenoid component of many essential oils, including those found in Artemisia and the coniferous genus Thuja. Research has shown that thujone not only fuels creativity, but also that an overdose of the compound causes yellow-tinged vision. Either absinthe or digoxin toxicity may have contributed to van Gogh's increasing use of the color yellow in the last years of his life. Or perhaps van Gogh may simply have loved the color yellow.
A great resource on this:
http://www.vangoghgallery.com/forum/forum_01.htm
Cheers.
Scott