The Strange Medical Saga of JFK

When John F. Kennedy was inaugurated President on January 20, 1961, two physicians who had previously saved his life and career were in attendance in case of an emergency. Over his entire life of forty-three years, he was continually plagued with a wide array of health issues. During infancy he almost died of scarlet fever. He survived an infamous PT 109 incident during World War II. After the war he collapsed due to adrenal failure known as Addison’s Disease. At one point when he was a senator, he said he would rather die than continue tolerating his incredible back pain. To top off these incidents he had two major back surgeries, malaria, a host of infections, and what is today called celiac disease. He had been given last rites on two occasions. Just before and during his tenure in the White House of about 1000 days, his doctors began a series of innovative therapies that gave him the best health ever in the year of his assassination. About fifty years would pass before medical science was able to determine that he had a rare genetic disease called “autoimmune polyglandular syndrome” which wiped out his adrenals, thyroid, and testicles requiring hormone replacement. He developed a rare complication called “adhesive arachnoiditis” which is regarded by some as the world’s worst back pain. His strange medical saga will likely remain as “one-of-a-kind.” Read more