Editing Karl Marx (section)

=== Health ===
Marx drank heavily after joining the Trier Tavern Club drinking society in the 1830s, and continued to do so until his death.<ref name="drinking1"/>

Marx was afflicted by poor health, what he himself described as "the wretchedness of existence",{{sfn|Blumenberg|2000|p=98}} and various authors have sought to describe and explain it. His biographer Werner Blumenberg attributed it to liver and gall problems which Marx had in 1849 and from which he was never afterward free, exacerbated by an unsuitable lifestyle. The attacks often came with headaches, eye inflammation, [[neuralgia]] in the head, and rheumatic pains. A serious nervous disorder appeared in 1877 and protracted [[insomnia]] was a consequence, which Marx fought with narcotics.{{sfn|Blumenberg|2000|p=100}}

The illness was aggravated by excessive nocturnal work and faulty diet. Marx was fond of highly seasoned dishes, smoked fish, caviare, pickled cucumbers, "none of which are good for liver patients", but he also liked wine and liqueurs and smoked an enormous amount "and since he had no money, it was usually bad-quality cigars". From 1863, Marx complained a lot about boils: "These are very frequent with liver patients and may be due to the same causes".{{sfn|Blumenberg|2000|p=100}} The abscesses were so bad that Marx could neither sit nor work upright. According to Blumenberg, Marx's irritability is often found in liver patients:

<blockquote>The illness emphasised certain traits in his character. He argued cuttingly, his biting satire did not shrink at insults, and his expressions could be rude and cruel. Though in general Marx had blind faith in his closest friends, nevertheless he himself complained that he was sometimes too mistrustful and unjust even to them. His verdicts, not only about enemies but even about friends, were sometimes so harsh that even less sensitive people would take offence&nbsp;... There must have been few whom he did not criticize like this&nbsp;... not even Engels was an exception.{{sfn|Blumenberg|2000|pp=99–100}}</blockquote>

According to Princeton historian [[Jerrold Seigel]], in his late teens, Marx may have had pneumonia or pleurisy, the effects of which led to his being exempted from Prussian military service. In later life whilst working on {{lang|de|Das Kapital}} (which he never completed),{{sfn|Blumenberg|2000|p=98}}{{sfn|Seigel|1978|p=494}} Marx suffered from a trio of afflictions. A liver ailment, probably hereditary, was aggravated by overwork, a bad diet, and lack of sleep. Inflammation of the eyes was induced by too much work at night. A third affliction, eruption of carbuncles or boils, "was probably brought on by general physical debility to which the various features of Marx's style of life&nbsp;– alcohol, tobacco, poor diet, and failure to sleep&nbsp;– all contributed. Engels often exhorted Marx to alter this dangerous regime". In Seigel's thesis, what lay behind this punishing sacrifice of his health may have been guilt about self-involvement and egoism, originally induced in Karl Marx by his father.{{sfn|Seigel|1978|pp=495–496}}

In 2007, a [[retrodiagnosis]] of Marx's skin disease was made by [[dermatologist]] Sam Shuster of [[Newcastle University]]. For Shuster, the most probable explanation was that Marx suffered not from liver problems, but from [[hidradenitis suppurativa]], a recurring infective condition arising from blockage of [[apocrine]] ducts opening into [[hair follicles]].{{sfn|Shuster|2008|pp=1–2}} Shuster went on to consider the potential [[psychosocial]] effects of the disease, noting that the skin is an organ of communication and that hidradenitis suppurativa produces much psychological distress, including loathing and disgust and depression of self-image, mood, and well-being, feelings for which Shuster found "much evidence" in the Marx correspondence. Professor Shuster went on to ask himself whether the mental effects of the disease affected Marx's work and even helped him to develop [[Marx's theory of alienation|his theory of alienation]].{{sfn|Shuster|2008|p=3}}