Surely you had already heard of him somewhere. Maybe from your mom who threatened you with him Mal de San Vito when you misbehaved, but you didn’t understand what it was about or what it meant. You did not know that San Vito disease, also known as Huntington’s disease, is a degenerative, hereditary and fatal pathology which affects approximately between 5 and 10 people out of every 100 thousand.
The Mal de San Vito or San Vito dance is one of the most unusual stories recorded in the Middle Agesan era characterized by the obscurantism and the dogmas, the religious and blind faith and the ignorance of so much that was happening in the world…
But what was it, specifically? We tell you about this curious event in Supercurious and its relationship with one of the strangest and most complex diseases that exist today.
1. History of Mal de San Vito: He made 400 people dance
San Vito disease appeared in history for the first time during the century XVI. Some, however, have found episodes of this epidemic before this time. The dance of San Vito was characterized by putting people to dance until faint. Yes, just as you read it, to dance until exhaustion, without the possibility of the body recovering.
This evil originated in the city of Strasbourg —currently France— when, on July 14, Frau Troffea began to dance, without background music and for no apparent reason. This unfortunate woman was the first, but not the last.
Behind her, followed more than 400 men and women who began to move, not at the same time or at the same pace, but, rather, first some and then others, like a plague that spread endlessly and that led many, after an arduous dance, to certain death.
These were not delicate pirouettes. They were a series of convulsive movements, with arms raised in the air and contortions completely out of the ordinary, which continued until the possessor of San Vito’s disease passed out. If the person came to, it started again. An evil like few others, which plagued the city for several days and that no one could explain.
That would not be a very pleasant image to see, rather it would be like crazy, in a madhouse, at a tea party, in the middle of the night, where everyone, just like some mad hatters, they burst in improvised steps and without any coordinationout of rhythm and without music, set only with the screams of the dancers who couldn’t give more of themselves.
For days they tried to find a cure for those infernal movements. Several theses were devised: some said that the blood of those men and women had become too hot and that, therefore, only it was necessary to let them dance until they released that inconceivable evil.
This belief led to the construction of stages for the dancers and the hiring of various musicians who put son to what did not have it. However, this did not eradicate the disease, but rather caused it to spread: more people began to dance wildly, as if it would never stop.
But… Why is it called San Vito’s evil?
Although the origin of this terrible disease could not be determined for a long time, its symptoms and conditions were key to giving it the name that, even today, continues to characterize it.
Everything is linked to martyr Saint Vitus. It is believed that this saint suffered from epilepsy, which led him to present involuntary movements, without reason or judgment. San Vito was tortured from childhood. It was that very suffering that led him to become a martyr.
Now, in the region where the disease of San Vito appeared for the first time, there was, at the time, the cult of San Vito and it was believed that this was the precursor of this epidemic, since the cure was attributed to him.
Frau Troffea, for example, was cured after being taken to the altar of San Vito, where the priests placed red shoes on the dancers, placed a crucifix in their hands, and sprinkled them with holy water until they miraculously healed. they cured. However, this did not prevent many from dying in that epidemic.
2. San Vito disease today: What characterizes Huntington’s disease
Over time, medicine managed to determine those factors that characterize the disease. Faced with this, it is worth emphasizing that this is considered a hereditary disease.
Huntington’s disease causes progressive degradation of nerve cells in the brain. San Vito’s disease implies, then, a high impact on the person’s functional abilities, generally leading to movement, cognitive and psychiatric disorders.
In most cases, people are born with the defective gene, but symptoms do not appear until when the individual is between the ages of 30 and 50. If the condition occurs before that age It is called juvenile Huntington’s disease.
Causes of Huntington’s disease
The main cause of San Vito disease is an inherited difference present in a single gene. This means that, in the affected person, there is a genetic mutation where a segment of DNA, known as the CAG segment, can be repeated between 36 and 120 times.
In a person without the disease, this repetition is maintained between 10 and 35 times. This creates an imbalance in protein production. Huntingtin (HTT), which plays an important role in nerve cells.
Symptoms of San Vito disease
Generally, this disease triggers motor, cognitive and psychiatric disorders. These respond to symptoms such as:
- Jerky or involuntary movements.
- Muscle problems, such as stiffness or contractures.
- Alterations in balance, gait and posture.
- Lack of control over impulses and their own behaviors and aptitudes.
- Increased feelings of irritability and sadness.
- Development of other disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, mania, or bipolar disorder.
How is San Vito disease treated?
Facing the evil of San Vito there is no treatment that can prevent progress of this strange disease. However, there are treatments that can help relieve some symptoms, especially those related to movement and psychiatric disorders.
These treatments include the use of medications to reduce jerking movements, antipsychotic medications, and antidepressants. Different types of therapy can also be tried, What psychotherapyspeech therapy and physical therapies.
At first it was believed that the episode of mass hysteria recorded in Strasbourg was nothing more than that. The episodes died out until, after a few years, no record of them remained. However, he kept the attention of scientists and scholars, leading to the discovery of what is now known as Huntington’s disease.
Before you go, tell us: have you heard about this disease? Were you clear about its historical background? We are looking forward to reading you! And if you have been interested in this topic, do not stop reading: the dance epidemic of 1518.