In this video, Mikhail Varshavski, DO, takes a look at mysterious deaths that defy common explanation.
Following is a partial transcript of the video (note that errors are possible):
Varshavski: A nightmare so scary you die? Is that even possible? Today, we're taking a look at a series of deaths throughout history that doctors are still struggling to explain. Let's get started. Peewoop!
Rodney Marks was a bright, young Australian astrophysicist who remains the only person to potentially have been murdered on the continent of Antarctica. It was spring in the year 2000 when Rodney was working his second stint in Antarctica. He had been there a couple of years before, conducting research, and enjoyed the work. He was passionate about his field and was engaged to a woman at the base. He was surrounded by intelligent peers and had plenty of access to food, water, and alcohol for those cold Antarctic nights. Life was good. Chilly, but good.
One May afternoon Rodney was walking outside between two buildings, a walk you'd want to keep as brief as possible given that the temperature outside in the Antarctic winter was around -80°F. He found himself struggling to breathe. Concerned for his health, he rushed to see the research station physician, Dr. Robert Thompson, who was concerned to see the young and otherwise healthy Rodney in distress. He attempted to treat him, but Rodney's condition only worsened. Over the course of just 36 hours, Rodney went from walking between stations, to visiting the doctor, to hopping on emergency satellite calls with medical professionals around the world, to suffering cardiac arrest.
Dr. Thompson was stunned, but the mystery was just beginning to unfold. An autopsy would need to be performed to determine the specific cause of death. But because Antarctica was heading into its Southern Hemisphere winter, flights in and out of the base would pause for at least 6 months. Rodney's body was kept in a freezer until flights resumed half a year later, taking him to a medical examiner in New Zealand. The cause of death? Methanol poisoning.
Methanol is a non-drinking type of alcohol used for industrial purposes. It's highly poisonous with as little as 2 ounces being all that's needed to kill an adult and those who survive are oftentimes left blind. The methanol in Rodney's body most likely came from the cleaning chemicals he used on the telescopes, which he operated.
So what was methanol doing in Rodney's body? According to the New Zealand pathologist who tested the contents of Rodney's blood, the methanol was virtually certain to have been ingested. Unfortunately, the clarity ends there.
Some speculate that Rodney had accidentally consumed the chemical while attempting to brew his own private stash of moonshine. But with plenty of alcohol available on the base, this doesn't quite make sense. The most controversial opinion is that Rodney was poisoned to death in either negligent homicide or murder.
Investigations into Rodney's death have been deeply, deeply complicated. The research station Rodney was working on was operated by the United States. The actual land the base was on is claimed by the country of New Zealand, a claim the U.S. rejects. Meanwhile, Rodney was an Australian national. The New Zealand authorities spearheaded an international investigation into Rodney's death, but were met with steep opposition by the U.S. intelligence agencies who refused to share their own findings.
Of the 49 people stationed at the base, New Zealand was only able to receive information from 13 of them with the rest refusing to cooperate. Not to mention, aside from a few sentimental personal effects, Rodney's property and workstation was cleaned out and reset, eliminating any hopes of a fruitful in-person investigation. After years and years of digging, investigators concluded that while methanol poisoning is what killed Rodney, how it got inside his body would remain forever unknown.
The infamous poet and author Edgar Allan Poe published classic works of chilling American literature such as "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Raven." But what happened to Poe was even more terrifying than anything he put on the page -- because it was real.
It was a dark, rainy October afternoon in 1849 when a man stumbled his way down the street in Baltimore, Maryland. He was filthy. He was deranged. He was in fact Edgar Allan Poe. He was also ignored. Strangers passed by paying little attention to the figure they believed to be a drunken vagrant. Fortunately, a man named Joseph Walker spotted Edgar wallowing in the gutter. Walker, who worked for the Baltimore Sun newspaper, recognized Edgar, got him to his feet, and took him to a nearby tavern. Edgar was delirious, speaking nonsense. He was in horrible shape and mysteriously wasn't wearing his own clothes. Instead of his classic black wool suit, he was wearing a cheap ill-fitting suit and a straw hat.
Joseph managed to speak some sense into Edgar and got him to say the name of a local physician, Dr. J. E. Snodgrass. Joseph quickly penned the following letter and sent it off. "Dear Sir, There is a gentleman, rather the worse for wear, at Ryan's fourth ward polls who goes under the cognomen of Edgar A. Poe. He appears in great distress and he says he is acquainted with you. He is in need of immediate assistance. Yours, in haste, Jos. W. Walker." The letter was received and Edgar was quickly transported to the hospital where he stayed for several days, constantly drifting in and out of consciousness.
On October 7th, he died, doctors just as confused as the day he was brought in. Several theories do exist regarding what exactly killed Edgar Allan Poe. In the aftermath, a local Baltimore newspaper said he died of congestion of the brain. Perhaps they meant a stroke, a cerebral hemorrhage, maybe a blood clot, maybe an aneurysm. A diagnosis of "congestion of the brain," especially at that time, was a reasonable diagnosis. He was acting unusual. He wasn't moving normally. These are all signs of some kind of neurologic disease.
Actually, Dr. Snodgrass believed Edgar died of alcohol withdrawal. Personal accounts of Edgar's life indicate he was a heavy drinker and tremors and delirium is a symptom of someone whose body is withdrawing from addictive substance like alcohol. None of this would answer why he was wearing someone else's clothes and the straw hat, which has led others to believe he was a victim of some sort of foul play.
Another interesting theory, rabies, a viral infection often caused by animal bites that is nearly always fatal unless you've been vaccinated. The ups and downs of delirium are consistent with rabies patients and hospital records indicate Edgar had trouble drinking. One of the more unusual symptoms of rabies is an actual phobia or fear of water. We'll never actually know what happened to Edgar Allan Poe. It will forever remain a medical mystery. Only this and nothing more.
, is a board-certified family physician and social media influencer with more than 10 million subscribers.