Interested in the medical background of historical figures? Run over to The Physical Lincoln and explore at your leisure.
Here's an excerpt of what you will find:
"Napoleon suffered from brucellosis all his life, and was supposed to have been partially incapacitated by a fever at the battle of Waterloo.
He tried to commit suicide after the battle of Toulouse, but the poison was stale.
At autopsy Napoleon was over 5 feet 6 inches tall -- the average height of adult men at that time. Thus, "the little corporal" was not that little. The popular misconception that Napoleon was short may derive from the fact that the French "foot" ("pied de roi") was 12.78 inches. Thus, when French sources gave his height as 5 feet 2 inches, the height in English feet would have been 5 feet 6 and a half inches.
Between age 36 and 40, Napoleon changed mentally and physically. He went from a slim, fit, shy, silent, energetic leader to a round, pudgy, sparse-haired, garrulous, sleepy, unfocused emperor with breasts "any beauty would be proud of" [12c] . The physical features are consistent with acquired hypogonadism. Marion discusses the possibility Napoleon had 17-ketosteroid reductase deficiency, and addresses issues such as his childless first marriage and perhaps-childless second marriage. Marion concludes that the question of Napoleon's transformation will probably never be settled."
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