There are a number of documented cases of historical figures and distinguished members of society who had
kidney stones. This condition is caused by nephrolithiasis, which are more commonly known as kidney stones, or urolithiasis, where the stone forms in the urinary system. These are crystal deposits that can accrete in the
urinary system when certain
chemical substances become concentrated in the
urine.[1] Among the symptoms associated with nephrolithiasis are intense
colicky pain,
nausea,
fever, chills, and the reduction or blockage of urine flow.[2] Historically, the condition of having a kidney or bladder stone was referred to as "the stone" or "the gravel".
In certain cases, kidney stone formation played a pivotal role in history. Most notably, some members of the royalty and military leaders became debilitated at important moments, such as
Napoleon III of France[3] during the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and
Athenian commander
Nicias in the disastrous
Sicilian Expedition of 415-413 BC.[4] Despite this condition, artists such as
Arthur Sullivan[5] and
Michel de Montaigne[6] managed to produce historically distinguished works; providing an example of perseverance in the face of severe and chronic pain. The medical advances of the twentieth century have allowed patients to survive the condition, whereas in the past it may have proven debilitating or fatal (as shown by the examples below).[7]
Kidney stones can reach exceptional size. In December 2003, a kidney stone weighing 356 g (12.5 oz) was removed from the right kidney of Peter Baulman of Australia. At its widest point, the stone measured 11.86 cm (4.66 in).[8] In 2017, a 2 kg (4.4 lb) stone spanning 20 cm was surgically removed from Abdul Abu Al Hajjar in
Kensington, England. As of August 2006, the most kidney stones ever passed naturally was 5,704 by Canadian Donald Winfield. The largest number removed through surgery was 728, during a three-hour operation upon Mangilal Jain of India, on January 27, 2004.[9]
Actors and media figures
In 1954, movie actress
Ava Gardner was hospitalized in
Madrid with kidney stones. In her torment, she is said to have yelled curses that caused the Spanish nuns to blush.[10]
Hollywoodtalent agentLew Wasserman was suffering from a kidney stone during the 1970s. As he was about to embark on an oceanic voyage, he insisted that it be surgically removed despite the risk and the reluctance of his doctor.[12]
Early in the filming of Live and Let Die (1973), actor
Roger Moore was hospitalized from a pre-existing kidney stone condition.[13]
During the shooting of the City Heat (1984), actor
Burt Reynolds became debilitated from a kidney stone, and had to resort to medications to continue filming. He also suffered a broken jaw when struck by a metal chair and displayed inner ear problems.[14]
Commentator
Bill O'Reilly dislikes doctors, and so for two years he avoided medical attention for a kidney stone. It was surgically removed in 2002 and he was back on the air within four hours.[15]
On October 19, 2005, while working on the set of Boston Legal, actor
William Shatner was taken to the emergency room for lower back pain. He eventually passed a kidney stone, but recovered and soon returned to work. Shatner sold his kidney stone in 2006 for $75,000 to
GoldenPalace.com. The money went to a housing charity, and a home was built for a family which had lost theirs in
Hurricane Katrina.[16]
While writing his book A Year at the Movies, former Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast member
Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo) passed a kidney stone, an experience he documented.
American comedian
Jeff Foxworthy passed five kidney stones, an experience which he has described during his stand-up routine.[17]
In 1549,
Italian Renaissance painter
Michelangelo was treated for kidney stones by anatomist
Realdo Colombo. Michelangelo appears to have suffered for many years from recurrent uric acid stones and may have died from obstructive
nephropathy. His condition may account for his artistic interest in kidneys.[24]
Five years after retiring because of ill health, in 1612 Italian composer
Giovanni Gabrieli died from an attack of kidney stones.[25]
Arthur Sullivan, of the musical partnership
Gilbert and Sullivan, began to suffer from kidney stones in 1872. This would affect him for the remainder of his life, although he would continue to write while suffering from pain. He underwent surgery in 1874 in an attempt to treat the condition.[26]
Among his many medical maladies, in 1964 composer
Cole Porter was hospitalized for the removal of kidney stones. He died two days later, most likely
bronchopneumonia in his chest. He was also found to have chronic
nephrosclerosis, or degeneration of the kidneys.[28]
Tony-award winning composer
Charles Strouse became infected as a result of a kidney stone. He recovered after treatment with antibiotics and the removal of the stone.[30]
The
post-mortem examination of noted diarist
Samuel Pepys revealed, "a nest of no less than seven stones" in his left kidney. These weighed a total of 4.5 ounces. When he was younger, Pepys had undergone bladder surgery, pre-anesthesia, for removal of a large stone. He carried this stone with him to try to persuade fellow sufferers to endure the painful surgery.[36]
Mary Ann Evans wrote under the male pen name of
George Eliot. She had suffered from various health problems for all of her life, and starting in February 1874 she endured a series of kidney stone attacks that lasted until her death.[37]
While visiting Italy, the author
Llewelyn Powys (who lived from 1884 to 1939) began coughing up blood because of his
tuberculosis and also suffered from a kidney stone. After he returned home to
Dorset, he passed the stone with excruciating pain. He had to take medication for the remainder of his life to avoid forming another stone.[38]
American author
Jack London used
morphine to alleviate the pain of kidney stones. He most likely died at the age of forty from kidney failure and possibly a toxic dose of pain reliever.[39]
At the end of her life in 1980, author
Ethel Wilson was hospitalized and suffering from recurrent small
strokes. The day before she died, she was in physical distress from passing a kidney stone. A doctor injected her with medication to ease the pain.[40]
Author
Isaac Asimov suffered from kidney stones, and wrote about how his pain was treated with
morphine, saying that he feared becoming
addicted to morphine if he ever needed it again.[41] During the 1980s, his problem with kidney stones developed into kidney disease, which resulted in multiple hospitalizations.[42]
In his book A Year at the Movies, Mystery Science Theater 3000 writer and performer
Kevin Murphy describes his ordeal with a kidney stone: "Being gut-stabbed with a dirty spoon in a prison cafeteria is less painful."[43][44]
James I of England suffered from several symptoms characteristic of kidney stones, including abdominal colic and passing red urine. Following his death in 1625, stones were found in his kidney.[50]
While he was alive, King
Louis XIV of France frequently voided kidney stones but without suffering apparent pain. A small stone was found in the left kidney of his corpse.[51]
In 1722 the Russian ruler
Peter the Great began to experience kidney problems. The symptoms grew worse during 1723 and by the following year it was diagnosed as the stone. He suffered from extreme pain in the loins and then tumors began to form on his thighs. Early in 1725 he died.[52]
Empress
Anna of Russia was known to suffer from kidney stones, and in 1740 her condition became more acute. After becoming bedridden, she died later the same year. An autopsy showed that the stones resembled branching coral.[53]
After his death, English
King George IV was found to have a bladder stone that had become encysted.[54] A year before his death he had complained of a pain in his bladder.[55]
With his health deteriorating, in 1860
Lord Cochrane twice underwent surgery for kidney stones. He died during the second operation.[56]
King
Leopold I of Belgium underwent a lithotrity in 1862 for the removal of a kidney stone. However, the operation was only partly successful and he underwent a second surgery in 1863. For the latter operation,
Sir Henry Thompson was appointed surgeon-extraordinary to the King.[57]
Napoleon I of France became ill with a kidney stone during the
Battle of Borodino, September 7, 1812. This condition may help explain his unoriginal tactics during the battle.[58]
Māori Queen Dame
Te Atairangikaahu was hospitalized for kidney surgery in 2005, a few weeks after the 40th anniversary of her coronation.[60]
Politicians and military commanders
In the disastrous
Sicilian Expedition (415-413 BC), the Athenian commander
Nicias was afflicted with kidney stones during the entire period he was in charge.[4]
The English military and political leader
Oliver Cromwell may have suffered from kidney stones during the 1650s. His doctor said that, "being much troubled with the stone, he used sometimes to swill down several sorts of liquor, and then stir his body by some violent motion ... that by such agitation he might disburden his bladder."[61]
In 1659,
Myles Standish, who served as military officer of the
Pilgrims at
Plymouth Colony, became "sick of the stone" and died after suffering much "dolorous pain".[62]
Virginia Governor
Patrick Henry complained in a letter written in 1799 that he was suffering from "the Gravel" which "rendered it impossible for me to ride out to Day."[66] Gravel is an 18th century medical term for kidney stones.
The eleventh President of the United States,
James K. Polk, suffered from kidney stones during his youth. At the age of seventeen he underwent a successful
lithotomy without
anaesthetic for removal of a urinary stone. Thereafter he was sufficiently well to be able to receive a formal education.[67]
Colonel
Edward M. House was the foreign policy advisor to President
Woodrow Wilson until removed from that post in 1919. In that year he suffered through a painful kidney stone, and he had recurrences in 1928 and 1930.[68]
In 1959, Indian Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi began to suffering from severe pain in the stomach and back. She was diagnosed with a kidney stone and underwent successful surgery in February 1960 to have it removed.[69]
Sukarno, the first President of
Indonesia, suffered from recurrent kidney stones. He was twice forced to seek medical treatment in
Vienna; the second time for removal of a kidney stone.[70]
U.S. President
Lyndon B. Johnson suffered from kidney stones at various times in his life. He was reluctant to seek treatment because of the effect it may have on his political image.[71]
Bosnian Serb military commander
Ratko Mladić underwent surgery in
Belgrade for a kidney stone in 1995, during the final year of
the Serbian conflict with Bosnia.[73] He was later indicted by the UN War Crimes Tribunal for genocide and other crimes.[74]
Pope Vigilius, whose papacy began in 537, died in
Sicily while suffering from kidney stones, 555.[84]
Saint
Ailred of Rievaulx took frequent baths and consumed wine to alleviate the severe pain from his kidney stones.[85]
The German monk
Martin Luther periodically suffered from kidney stones, and he almost died in 1537 from being unable to urinate. During his lengthy journey home, the jostling motion of the carriage released the stone and so spared his life.[86]
Cardinal Mazarin, the successor to
Cardinal Richelieu as the French King's Chief Minister, began to suffer from kidney stones in 1659. He died two years later while also suffering from gout and deteriorating health.[88]
After surviving the plague year of 1665, English clergyman, author and chief founder of the
Royal SocietyJohn Wilkins became ill from kidney stones and he was unable to pass urine. He most likely died from the opiates or other medications that were used to treat his condition.[89]
Pope Innocent XI survived primitive surgery for the extraction of kidney stones.[90] After his death in 1689, he was found to have a "stone weighing nine ounces in the left kidney and another weighing six ounces in the right side."[91]
Mary Baker Eddy was the founder of
Christian Science, a movement that discouraged its members from seeking help from doctors for their illnesses. In 1903 she began to suffer from extreme pain and consented to a visit by a doctor. After a diagnosis of kidney stones, she agreed to injections of morphine to alleviate the pain.[92]
In 1954, when
Billy Graham was preparing to preach at Berlin's
Olympic Stadium, he began to suffer pain from a kidney stone. Wondering whether the
Devil might be mounting a vengeful attack against him,[93] he chose to continue the public service without painkillers, rather than appearing groggy or undergoing hospitalization.[94]
After praying to
Mother Teresa, a 1⁄2-inch-diameter (13 mm) kidney stone disappeared from the lower ureter of Father V. M. Thomas in
Guwahati, India. This occurred a day before the priest was scheduled to undergo surgery for the stone's removal. The surgeon said that, "the disappearance of the calculus (stone) was beyond medical explanation." This alleged miracle was used to support the case for
sainthood of Mother Teresa.[95]
In 271 or 270 BC, the Greek Philosopher
Epicurus died from a stone blockage of his urinary tract lasting a fortnight, according to his successor
Hermarchus and reported by his biographer
Diogenes Laërtius.[98]
In describing his kidney stones, the physician
Thomas Sydenham said, "The pain is like that of a dislocation and yet parts feel as if cold water had been poured over them... Now it is a gnawing pain and now it is a pressure and tightening. So exquisite and lively meanwhile is the feeling of the part affected, that it cannot bear the weight of the bedclothes nor the jar of a person walking in the room."[97]
Robert Boyle, regarded as the first modern chemist, was troubled for much of his adult life by kidney stones.[100]
After retiring from the Lumleian lectureship at
Cambridge University in 1655, the aging physician
William Harvey was known to suffer from gout and kidney stones. He is noted for his correct description of blood and the circulatory system.[101]
In 1686, Danish anatomist and geologist
Nicholas Steno became gravely ill from kidney stones. He suffered great pain and his stomach became distended. Shortly before he died, he prayed that, "My God I beg you not to take the pains from me, but to give me the patience to bear them."[102]
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French naturalist, suffered from kidney stones in 1771 and their "passing caused him very sharp pains". He had 57 stones at time of autopsy in 1788.[103]
During Sir
Isaac Newton's later life, he was troubled by painful urinary incontinence, probably due to uric acid stones in the bladder.[104]
The distinguished mathematician and philosopher
Gottfried Leibniz died from a combination of gout and the stone. Although he was a member of several distinguished societies, he had fallen into such disfavor that only one man came to his funeral.[105]
In the final years of his life,
Benjamin Franklin is known to have used
laudanum, an
alcoholic herbal preparation of
opium, to alleviate the pain of recurrent kidney stones.[106]
The eminent Italian anatomist and surgeon
Antonio Scarpa suffered severely from a stone for several years. This caused a bladder inflammation which led to his demise in 1832.[107]
Sports figures
Nearing the end of his life, in 1985 the father of competitive weightlifting,
Bob Hoffman, suffered from a number of physical ailments, including kidney stones.[108]
New York Giants football coach
Bill Parcells underwent medical treatment for a kidney stone in 1990. Against his doctor's advice, Bill Parcels attempted to coach the next game against the
Minnesota Vikings, but a reporter noted he "appeared drawn and in pain".[109]
During a 1996 attempt to cross
Antarctica, explorer and endurance record holder Sir
Ranulph Fiennes was forced to turn back because of kidney stones. He lists it as his most painful experience.[110]
Los Angeles Lakers head coach
Phil Jackson underwent a
lithotripsy procedure to treat a kidney stone in 2003. It was the first time he missed a game as coach. He had experienced symptoms for two years prior to the surgery.[111]
Professional
golferDavis Love III had to withdraw from the 2007
Wyndham Championship to undergo surgery for a kidney stone. Afterward he said that, "Except for feeling like I've been punched in the side, I feel fine."[112]
Bernhard Langer had to pull out of the 2007 Deutsche Bank Players' Championship to undergo an operation for kidney stone removal.[113]
In June 2003 at the Texas State Skeet Shooting Championships (
Waco, Texas), Houston area skeet shooter
Michael Fox began experiencing severe discomfort and pain of a kidney stone upon beginning the Doubles event. Somehow, throughout the one hour event he was not only able to complete the 100 target competition, but also maintained his focus by shooting a perfect score - breaking all 100 targets. He finished second out of 174 competitors, losing the tie-breaking shootoff to eventual champion
Jason Ward.[115]
In March 2009, driver
Martin Truex Jr. was hospitalized before the Atlanta's Cup race with a kidney stone. Because of the
NASCAR drug regulations, he decided to forgo medications while passing the stone so that he could compete in the race.[116]
During the 2009
National Hockey League playoffs, all-star right winger
Mark Recchi underwent surgery to have a kidney stone removed. He said of the pain, "I don't wish it on anybody."[117]
In November 2017,
Vince Carter of the Sacramento Kings suffered a kidney stone[119]
Winner of the 2003
Grand National, Jockey
Barry Geraghty was hospitalized with a kidney stone in 2015. He said, "I was in a lot of pain and had to have plenty of morphine."[120]
At the age of 50,
Olympic gold medalist
Caitlyn Jenner (then Bruce)[a] discovered that she had a kidney stone after undergoing a full body
EBCT scan.[122]
During 2016,
FC Barcelona forward
Lionel Messi apparently played three games with a stone in his kidney. He used tranquillizers during the games, then underwent a lithotripsy to break up the stone.[123]
Chicago White Sox manager
Ozzie Guillén was hospitalized while passing a kidney stone in 2004. He said, "that was something I don't wish anybody has, even my worst enemy."[129]
Rich Aurilia, an
infielder for the
San Francisco Giants, was rushed to a hospital in 2008 because of a kidney stone. He said, "it felt like somebody stuck a knife in my rib cage".[130]
The Soap Lady, a mysterious mummified female on exhibit at the
Mütter Museum, may have suffered from a kidney stone or gallstone.[146]
Dutch blacksmith
Jan de Doot is remembered for having his portrait painted with the "four ounce palpable stone" that he supposedly removed from his
perineum using a kitchen knife in 1651.[147]
Between 2001 and 2006, 14 American
astronauts developed kidney stones during
space missions.[151] During long-duration space flights, astronauts are at higher risk for kidney stones because of an increase in the amount of
calcium in their blood. This is caused by a loss of bone density in
zero gravity.[152]
In September 2017,
Linux creator
Linus Torvalds passed a kidney stone over an interval he described as "seven hours of pure agony".[154]
Fictional
Fictional incidents of kidney stones have been portrayed in the media on several occasions.
In season one, episode 11 of Modern Family,
Phil Dunphy (
Ty Burrell) is seen writhing on the bed because of a kidney stone, and Claire has to drive him to the hospital.[155]
In season five, episode 11 of "
Reba" entitled "Brock's Got Stones", Brock Hart has kidney stones, and passes them on his own.[156]
On an episode of Seinfeld,
Cosmo Kramer (
Michael Richards) suffers from a kidney stone. He eventually passes the stone at a carnival, but the pain induced by its passing causes him to scream so loudly that he interrupts the circus and causes a tightrope walker to fall.[159]
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