Tuesday, June 9, 2009

JFK HAD ADRENAL TROUBLE, TOO!

During our research for Cushing's disease and its post-op counterpart Addison's disease, Jonathan and I have turned the internet upside looking for stuff. Reading reading reading. This was one very interesting historical fact I didn't know.

President John F. Kennedy suffered from Addison's disease, or adrenal insufficiency. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library includes a four-page summary of his condition and how he handled it as he ran several campaigns.

As an aside, we have been doing family research on ancestry.com. I found a fourth cousin who traced our shared side of the family to the Kennedys. My grandmother and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy are 8th cousins, and JFK Jr. and I are/were 10th cousins.

Perhaps adrenal issues run in our family....?