1.13.2017

In their free time, some scientists and doctors like to try to figure out causes of medically-related historical events. For example, the authors of this study investigate what may have caused the crazy dancing “epidemic” of 1518 in Strasbourg: “Some time in mid-July 1518 a lone woman stepped into one of its narrow streets and …

CHR Comment: St. Vitus was patron saint of dancers. People would dance before his image and in this case didn’t stop for days. The article proposes that this was due to stress rather than a particular illness or drug.

Source: Flashback Friday: The mysterious dancing epidemic of 1518. – Seriously, Science?