BBC News Flash: Mona Lisa had High Cholesterol!

By Christian Goodman

Recently in London, England, an Italian professor at the Palermo University has suggested that perhaps the reason for Mona Lisa's grim outlook is ill health, specifically high cholesterol.

Especially the yellowish color that Da Vinci gave around her left eye opens suggestions that that could have excessive sediment of fat. When there very high level of fat it will be externally visible beneath the eyes. The colors of Mona Lisa noted from the painting indicates that she should have suffered from several health problems.

His claim stems from his belief that the artist captures the subject as she sits before him. Therefore an ill subject will be rendered such in the portrait whether or not the artist intended it to. Skeptics are very quick to point out that it is a painting not a photograph and the colors choices may have simply been just that: color choices - indicating mood instead of a physical state.

Xanthoma is a condition where fatty acids settle under the skin and shows out as a bump or bruise. It is an indicator of high content of fat in the body. Professor Franco cannot be written of just like that. What he said is also quite possible.

Additionally, one of the ways in which historians, and yes, even physicians, look at the past is through paintings. After all, we have not always had the digital camera. Without exact images, we must depend on the portraits to inform us of the past and this does include medical conditions. And Professor Franco is not the first to do so.

The ancient Egyptian religious leader, Akhenaten, has been the subject of such debate because of a portrait of him that depicts him as having very abnormal body features. There has been speculation that he may have suffered from one of many ailments, including diabetes. Edvard Munch's painting, "The Sick Child," is a clear depiction of his sister who was seriously ill with tuberculosis and died at the age of fifteen. One cannot ignore here that the art does inform us about the health of those during that time. Johanne Sophie, Munch's sister, is a clear image of how tuberculosis manifested itself on the exterior of the body.

It can also not believed that Mona Lisa had high cholesterol. She could have had that grin due to bad health too. The peculiar thing is that the professor used the painting to diagnose a condition that is mostly inside the body.

Franco's methods of diagnosis lend themselves to more natural methods of treatment as well, which was certainly the case centuries ago when there was little technology to provide cures.

If you would like a natural treatment for high cholesterol, check out our guide to lower cholesterol naturally.

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