Did Lead Poisoning Contribute to the Fall of the Roman Empire?
It has been speculated that gout may have indirectly led to the demise of the Roman Empire. Let’s take a closer look. Although evidence of uric acid deposition in joints has been described in mummified Egyptian remains dating back 4,000 years, Hippocrates is considered to be the first person to accurately describe its clinical features. He recognized a pathogenic role for rich foods and wines and noted that its onset occurred following puberty in men and after menopause in women. We should also take him at his word that eunuchs were hardly ever affected by it. He believed in the value of diet therapy and purgatives, and opined that, “the best natural relief of this disease is an attack of dysentery.” This was the rationale for using meadow saffron, Colchicum autumnale, as a treatment for acute gout. This plant originated in the kingdom of Colchis, situated on the coast of the Black Sea, and became renowned for its use as either a laxative or a poison. The latter use was chronicled in Greek mythology. Medea, daughter of the king of Colchis and wife of Jason (of the Argonauts), used it to kill her children upon being betrayed by her husband.2
So why was gout rampant among the Romans? Well, their wine consumption is legendary, with an average intake estimated to be in the range of one to five liters per person per day. With these statistics, it is hard to see how they accomplished anything! Yet this particular risk factor for gout was overshadowed by another more ominous one—the presence of lead in most Roman cooking utensils.
Lead specifically inhibits the tubular secretion of uric acid and it impairs the enzyme guanine aminohydrolase, resulting in an accretion of the insoluble purine guanine. Scholars believe that the most significant contamination of Roman wines stemmed from the widespread use of boiled-down grape syrup to enhance its color, sweetness, bouquet, and preservation.3 Recipes were clear about the need to simmer the flavors slowly in a lead pot or lead-lined copper kettle, in order to avoid admixing the harsh taste of copper rust. When some of these ancient recipes have been recreated, the lead concentration measured in the range of 240 to 1,000 milligrams per liter, which is several thousand times greater than our current daily lead intake. Ingesting just one teaspoon of this vinous potion would be sufficient to induce chronic lead poisoning. Salute!
