Table 1. A chronological list of diagnoses for Darwin’s illness.
Diagnoses for Darwin’s illness with their year of proposal and considered status. Obsolete: diagnosis no longer recognized; reject: diagnosis considered to be incorrect; incomplete: diagnosis reflects some symptoms but not the full spectrum of the illness; preferred: preferred diagnosis in this paper.
| Year | Diagnosis | Reference | Status |
| 1849 | Nervous dyspepsia/aggravated dyspepsia | [20] | Obsolete |
| 1849 | Suppressed gout | [21] | Obsolete |
| 1850 | Malingering (“shamming”) | [22] | Reject |
| 1863 | “Waterbrash” | [23] | Incomplete |
| 1865 | Sequel to seasickness, voyage HMS Beagle | [24] | Reject |
| 1888 | Sequel to illness, Valparaiso | [25] | Reject |
| 1901 | Neurasthenia | [26] | Obsolete |
| 1903 | Refractive error | [27] | Reject |
| 1918 | Anxiety neurosis | [28] | Incomplete |
| 1920 | Psychogenic – repressed hostility father | [29] | Reject |
| 1920 | Psychogenic – latent homosexuality | [29] | Reject |
| 1927 | Reactivation birth trauma | [30] | Reject |
| 1929 | Pyorrhea | [31] | Reject |
| 1943 | Psychoneurosis | [32] | Reject |
| 1954 | Psychoneurosis – repressed hostility toward father | [33] | Reject |
| 1958 | Brucellosis | [34] | Reject |
| 1959 | Depressive psychosis | [35] | Reject |
| 1959 | Chagas’ disease | [36] | Reject |
| 1963 | Malaria | [37] | Reject |
| 1963 | Diaphragmatic hernia | [38] | Reject |
| 1965 | Paroxysmal tachycardia | [39] | Incomplete |
| 1965 | Psychogenic – unresolved grief of mother’s death | [40] | Reject |
| 1966 | Narcolepsy, “diabetogenic hyperinsulinism” | [41] | Obsolete |
| 1971 | Arsenic poisoning | [42] | Reject |
| 1971 | Mercury poisoning | [43] | Reject |
| 1974 | Allergy, pigeons | [44] | Reject |
| 1977 | Psychogenic – repressed hostility wife | [45] | Reject |
| 1977 | Porphyria | [46] | Reject |
| 1987 | Pyroluria | [47] | Reject |
| 1990 | Chronic fatigue (myalgic encephalomyelitis) | [48] | Incomplete |
| 1990 | Allergy | [49] | Reject |
| 1994 | Adrenal insufficiency | [50] | Incomplete |
| 1997 | Lupus erythematosus | [51] | Reject |
| 1997 | Panic disorder | [15] | Incomplete |
| 1997 | Ménière’s disease | [52,53] | Incomplete |
| 1998 | Psychological – father-son bonding | [54] | Reject |
| 2000 | Atopic dermatitis | [55] | Incomplete |
| 2002 | Obsessive-compulsive disorder | [56,57] | Reject |
| 2005 | Lactose intolerance (“systemic”) | [58] | Reject |
| 2005 | Asperger’s syndrome | [59] | Reject |
| 2007 | Crohn’s disease | [60] | Reject |
| 2009 | Psychogenic – abhorrence to slavery | [61] | Reject |
| 2009 | Cyclic vomiting | [62] | Incomplete |
| 2009 | Helicobacter infection | [63] | Incomplete |
| 2012 | Irritable bowel syndrome | [64] | Incomplete |
| 2013 | Candida overload | [65] | Reject |
| 2014 | Mitochondrial disorder | [66] | Preferred |
| 2016 | Post-traumatic stress disorder | [67] | Reject |
| 2018 | Chronic borreliosis (Lyme disease) | [68] | Reject |