Editing Karen Blixen (section)

===Illness and death===
[[Image:Karen Blixen's grave.jpg|thumb|Karen Blixen's grave in [[Rungstedlund]], Denmark]]
When Blixen was diagnosed with syphilis in 1915, she was treated with mercury tablets. She took approximately 1 gram of mercury per day for almost a year according to some reports,{{sfn|Weismann|2007}} while others show she did so for only a few months.{{sfn|Donelson|2010}} She then spent time in Denmark for treatment and was given arsenic, which she continued to take in drop form as a treatment for the syphilis that she thought was the cause of her continued pain.{{sfn|Münster|2015}} Blixen had reported severe bouts of abdominal pain as early as 1921, while she was still in Kenya.{{sfn|Donelson|2010}} Several well-known physicians and specialists of both [[internal medicine]] and [[neurology]] diagnosed her with [[tabes dorsalis|third-stage chronic syphilis]].{{sfn|Søgaard|2002}} [[Mogens Fog]], who was Blixen's neurologist, thought that her gastric problems were attributable to syphilis, in spite of the fact that blood and spinal fluid tests were negative.{{sfn|Donelson|2010}}{{sfn|Weismann|2007}} By the time she left Africa, Blixen was suffering from [[anemia]], had [[jaundice]] and had overused arsenic. As clumps of her hair had begun to fall out, she took to wearing hats and [[turban]]s.{{sfn|Cullen|2008|p=46}}

Although it was widely believed that syphilis continued to plague Blixen throughout her lifetime,{{sfn|Donelson|2010}}{{sfn|Münster|2015}} extensive tests were unable to reveal evidence of syphilis in her system after 1925.{{sfn|Weismann|2007}} Her writing prowess suggests that she did not suffer from the mental degeneration of late stages of syphilis. She did suffer a mild permanent loss of sensation in her legs that could be attributed to use of the [[arsenic]]-based anti-syphilis drug [[salvarsan]].{{sfn|Donelson|2010}} Her gastric pain was often called "[[Dysentery|tropic dysentery]]", though no [[Stool test|stool analyses]] were reported in her medical records. Concerned about gaining weight, Blixen took strong laxatives "during her whole adult life", which after years of misuse affected her digestive system. She also was a heavy smoker, which when combined with her minimal food intake led to her developing a [[peptic ulcer]].{{sfn|Søgaard|2002}}

In 1946 and 1955 the neurosurgeon Eduard Busch performed a [[lumbar sympathectomy]] on Blixen's spinal cord, but her pain returned. In 1956 when she was diagnosed with the stomach ulcer, Professor Torben Knudtzon performed surgery at [[Copenhagen University Hospital]],{{sfn|Münster|2015}}{{sfn|Søgaard|2002}} but by that time, she was in her seventies, and already in poor health. Over the next several years, she continued to suffer from dehydration and a lack of nutrition, which rendered her weak and led to four additional hospitalizations at the Central Hospital in [[Hillerød]].{{sfn|Münster|2015}} Late in her treatment, she finally confessed her use of laxatives to her doctors.{{sfn|Søgaard|2002}} The source of her abdominal problems remains unknown. A 1995 report published by the Danish physician, Kaare Weismann, concluded that the cause of her chronic pain and ailment was likely heavy metal poisoning.{{sfn|Donelson|2010}} A 2002 report by Søgaard in the ''Danish Medical History Journal'' (''{{langx|da|Dansk Medicinhistorisk Årbog}}'') attributed her misdiagnosis to a failure to communicate on both the part of Blixen and her doctors. As she didn't tell them about her laxative misuse, and the physicians believed they were fighting syphilis, each missed the opportunity for effective treatment.{{sfn|Münster|2015}}{{sfn|Søgaard|2002}} Both Erik Münster and Weismann also recognized the lapse in communication, as had Blixen been treated with [[penicillin]], which was available by the 1950s, syphilis would have been able to be ruled out.{{sfn|Weismann|2007}}{{sfn|Münster|2015}}

It is also known that Blixen suffered from [[panic attack]]s,{{sfn|Cullen|2008|p=46}} because she described them in her book ''Out of Africa''.{{sfn|Donelson|2010}} In her analysis of Blixen's medical history, Donelson points out that Blixen wondered if her pain was [[psychosomatic]] and states that during Blixen's lifetime her illnesses were rumored to be fabricated. Her publisher indicated that Blixen's syphilis was a myth in private, but publicly, Blixen blamed syphilis for her chronic health issues. Donelson concluded: "Whatever her belief about her illness, the disease suited the artist's design for creating her own personal legend."{{sfn|Donelson|2010}}

Unable to eat, Blixen died in 1962 at Rungstedlund, her family's estate, at the age of 77, apparently of [[malnutrition]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Isak Dinesen, Author, Is Dead; Noted for Her Gothic Fantasies; Danish Baroness, 77, Was Creator of Short Stories Set in Romantic Past|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E03E7DE143CE53BBC4053DFBF668389679EDE|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=8 September 1962|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819202202/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E03E7DE143CE53BBC4053DFBF668389679EDE|archive-date=19 August 2016|location=New York City, New York|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Others attribute her weight loss and eventual death to [[anorexia nervosa]].{{sfn|Stuttaford|2007}}<ref>{{cite book |author1=Maria Helleberg |author2=Jørgen Lange Thomsen (Medical examiner)|title=Berømte dødsfald : fra Cæsar til Blixen |date=2016 |publisher=FADL |isbn=9788777498916 |edition=1. udgave}}</ref>