Table 3.

Differential diagnoses that have been proposed for Charles Darwin’s illness

Causes	Reference
Psychiatric causes
Reaction to birth trauma	51
Psychiatric disease	50
Neurosis	48
Hypomania	49
Depression	49
Hypochondria	47,94
Bereavement syndrome	47
Panic disorder	95
Anxiety disorder, agoraphobia	51,96
Neurasthenia	97
Nervous indigestion	98
Somatization disorder	51
Obsessive compulsive disorder	51
Repressed hatred towards father	51
Device for father-son bonding	51
Repressed hostility towards his wife	51
Unexpressed grief for loss of mother	51
Repressed anxiety over evolution	51
Conflict with religious beliefs	51
Repressed homosexual attraction to Fitzroy R	51
Malingering (shamming)	51
Central nervous system disease
Narcolepsy	99
Ocular disease
Chronic eye strain	100
Otologic
Meniere’s disease	51
Heart disease
Heart disease	98
Atrial fibrillation	101
Gastro-intestinal disorder
Irritable bowel syndrome	101
Celiac disease	47
Helicobacter infection
Crohn’s disease	101
Peptic ulcer	101
Biliary tract disease, chronic cholecystitis	48,101
Chronic appendicitis	48
Duodenal ulcer	48
Diaphragmatic hernia	102
Metabolic disease
Mitochondrial disorder	51
Intermittent porphyria	103
Metabolic disease	104
Gout	70
Hyperinsulinism	71
Infection
Chagas disease	50
Amoeba infection	48
Brucellosis	105
Chilean fever	48
Typhoid fever	47
Smoldering hepatitis	48
Borreliosis	51
Malaria	51
Pyorrhoea with septicemia	48
Helicobacter pylori infection	52
Candida overload	52
Intoxication
Arsenic poisoning	47
Bismuth	47
Amyl nitrite	47
Quinine	47
Calomel (mercury)	47
Morphium	47
Exposure to preservative chemicals	51
Allergy
Multiple allergies	47
Allergy	106
Pigeon allergy	48
Autoimmune
Systemic lupus erythematosus	51
Blood
Pyroluria	51
Others
Lactose intolerance	107