Friday, June 19, 2020

Frederick T. Zugibe (PhD, MD) on Jesus' Sweating of Blood and Hematidrosis

Frederick T. Zugibe, PhD, MD, was the Chief Medical Examiner of Rockland County, New York from 1969-2003. Commenting on Jesus’ sweating of blood, he wrote:

 

Sweating Blood

 

St. Luke’s words—“And his sweat became as drops of blood running upon the ground”—have plagued rationalists and theologians for centuries. Was Luke merely employing a figurative or allegorical expression or was it possible for a human to actually sweat blood? First, there is no reason to believe that Luke meant his words figuratively, because there is no inherent meaning to the expression. A figurative or allegorical interpretation is not possible, according to the rules of language; we cannot use it in a new sense apparently for the purpose of controversy. For example, “he spilled the beans” or “her let the cat out of the bag” are figurative expressions that have inherent meanings that everyone relates to. St Luke’s words do not. Second, there is a rare medical conditional called hematidrosis, also known as Sudorcruentus, Sudor Sanguineus, Suerdesany, or hemorrhagia percutem. The condition is defined in Stedman’s Medical Dictionary as an excretion of blood or blood pigments in the sweat. Early references to this physiological phenomenon include the observation by Aristotle, “some sweat with a bloody sweat” (Hist. Animal III, 19). Hematidrosis was also referred to in Hobart’s Medical Language of St. Luke (1882). Both Dr. Ryland Whitaker, in his article “The Physical Cause of the Death of Our Lord” (1935), and Dr. A. LeBec, in his “The Death of the Cross” (1925), found several instances on record of hematidrosis. LeBec indicated that in many of the cases, red blood corpuscles in the sweat were clearly revealed under a microscope.

 

A search of the vast medical literature revealed that a significant number of cases of hematidrosis were associated with a severe anxiety reaction triggered by fear. This association with fear was most strikingly seen in a review of reported cases discussed by J.H. Pooley in 1884. Pooley’s review included six cases each consisting of a condemned prisoner who exhibited the condition while being led to his execution by guillotine or hanging on the gallows, a case of a lady afflicted during an attempted rape, and the case of a sailor who developed the condition during a severe storm at sea. In the latter case, the terrified sailor broke out in a profuse bloody sweat, and was unable to speak during the storm, but when the storm subsided, the bloody sweating cased and his speech returned. In 1918, Dr. C.T. Scott described a case of an intelligent young girl of eleven, who was sheltered by her parents because she was very nervous about air raids. The child experienced frequent bouts of hematidrosis, which began on her forehead, a week after she was extremely frightened by a gas explosion that occurred next door while she was in bed. Microscopic examination of her perspiration revealed red blood corpuscles and some white blood corpuscles. In 1967, Dr. R.G. Gadzhiev and A.M. Listengarten studied a case of hematidrosis in a young woman who began sweating blood at nineteen years of age. This frequently occurred when the patient was nervous, excited, worried, and scared.

 

Cases of hematidrosis have been reported in the United States by Mitchell in 1880; in the French literature by Broeg in 1907 and by Darier in 1930; in the Russian literature by Lavsky in 1932 and by Gadzhiev and Listengarten in 1962; in the German literature by Ledalius in 1683, Tittel in 1876, and Riecke in 1923; and in the British literature in 1861 by Chambers in 1918 by Scott. Lavsky’s case was associated with psychological and behavorial changes. In most of the cases, red blood corpuscles were observed in the perspiration under the microscope. No blood or other physical abnormalities were found following examination to account for the phenomenon, and the disorder did not appear to be amenable to treatment. Holoubek and Holoubek did a literature survey of 76 cases and groped by them into individuals with systemic diseases, vicarious menstruation, excessive exertion, unknown causes, and psychogenic origins (single occurrence, recurrent, and stigmatics). They concluded that “the psychogenic factors involved in acute fear or intense mental contemplation are the inciting factors in the vast number of reports.” (Frederick T. Zugibe, The Crucifixion of Jesus: A Forensic Inquiry [2d ed.; New York: M. Evans and Company, Inc., 2005], 8-9)

 

Elsewhere, on the topic of hematidrosis, Zugibe wrote:

 

Fear and Hematidrosis

 

In order to understand how fear can cause hematidrosis, it is necessary to learn some basic medical facts regarding the autonomic nervous system, the anatomy of the sweat glands, the effects of anxiety, and how the “fight-or-flight reaction” is initiated.

 

The Autonomic Nervous System

 

The autonomic nervous system consists of a sympathetic division (SD) and a parasympathetic division (PD). Together they control various bodily functions such as heart rate; movements of the gastrointestinal tract; calibre of blood vessels; sweating; contraction or relaxation of muscles of the urinary bladder, gallbladder, and bronchi; regulation of the pupils of the eye; and accommodation. For practical purposes, the two divisions may be regarded as antagonistic to each other; that is, one system counteracts the effects of the other. For example, the SD increases the heart rare during excitement, and the PD slows it down. The SD activates and the PD deactivates the sweat glands. The SD relaxes or dilates the pupil to let in more light during dusk, and the PD constricts (narrows) the pupil in the direct sunlight to reduce the amount of light entering the eyes. The SD relaxes the eye for far vision, and the PD contracts the eye for near vision.

 

The Anatomy of the Sweat Glands

 

There are two types of the sweat glands, exocrine glands and apocrine glands. The exocrine are the primary sweat glands, which are distributed all over the surface of the body and, according to various studies, account for more than 2 million glands. They are smaller in size than the apocrine sweat glands and consist of tubular coiled glands situated well beneath the skin . . . These glands are completely coiled and entwined by numerous blood vessels . . .The tubules are ducts that carry the sweat to the outside surface of the skin.

 

Effects of Anxiety

 

Anxiety is defined by Drs. L.D. Adams and J. Hope as a medical phenomenon that designates a state characterized by a subjective feeling of fear and uneasy anticipation (apprehension) usually with a definite topical content and associated with the physiological accompaniments of fear, i.e.; breathlessness, choking sensation, palpitations of the heart, restlessness, increased muscular tension, tightness in the chest, giddiness, trembling, sweating, flushing, and broken sleep.” Much has been written on the physiological and psychological bases of anxiety states, and many hold to the theory that anxiety is an inherited instinctual reaction to fear, an internal response to a situation of danger based somewhere in the unconscious. Recent studies have identified an area of the brain called the amygdala as the “fear center.” When this center is alerted it sends out a “defense alarm” to major brain centers, which in turn relay the alarm to the various body structures that elicit the symptoms related above. Anxiety states are of two major varities: the acute attack, which lasts for a few minutes to hours, and the chronic type, which may last from hours to years. Acute anxiety attacks may provoke an intense fear of dying accompanied by loss of reason, palpitations, sweating, tremulousness, choking sensation, pallor, and shortness of breath. Many individuals who are experiencing acute anxiety attacks believe they are having a heart attack. These acute attacks are known as “panic attacks” by the medical establishment.

 

Individuals may develop panic attacks for a variety of physical or emotional reasons. Anxiety and depression cause terribly uncomfortable feelings that incessantly gnaw at a person, frequently disabling or incapacitating him or throwing him into a state of panic. Fatigue, in turn, is a frequent consequence of the increased effort to cope with the distressing fear. Some of the symptoms of anxiety include irritability, apprehension, insomnia, agitation, pallor, and changes in heart rate, inner tremulousness, palpitations, inability to concentrate, and loss of appetite. Individuals suffering from anxiety may become startled at the slightest unexpected stimulus. A state of hopelessness frequently immobilizes him or causes episodes of uncontrollable crying. People experiencing such mental anguish develop lowered spirits; feel dejected or melancholy; become withdrawn; and exhibit extreme sadness, lassitude, despair, discouragement, and a lack of ambition. We frequently hear people who are undergoing a severe emotional crisis, because of severe illness or death of a loved one, relate that they would rather have physical pain than the unrelenting, gnawing mental anxiety that they are suffering. Some who are unable to cope with their fears become preoccupied with suicide, and if this is not recognized and treated early, the results may be disastrous. I have autopsied individuals in the medical examiner’s office who committed suicide because they were convinced that they had cancer or other serious illness only to find no trace at autopsy.

 

Fight or Flight

 

The defense-alarm system that is elicited by the “fear center” in the brain is known as the fight-or-flight reaction. The autonomic nervous system is activated in an attempt to protect the body from harm. When a person senses danger, the fight-or-flight reaction is triggered, which puts the entire body into full alert. The sympathetic division of the nervous system is activated and adrenaline-like chemicals called catecholamines are produce, which accelerate heart rate, constrict the blood vessels to raise blood pressure, and divert blood away from the skin and nonessential areas to the brain in order to sharpen perception and to the muscles of the legs and arms to allow for greater strength and speed. This diversion of blood causes the characteristic paleness often seen with fear. The pupils become dilated to let in more light in order to increase vision and view more of the surroundings, blood sugar is released to provide additional energy, the rate and depth of breathing increases to provide adequate oxygen, and the digestive and other systems slow down to conserve energy. When the danger has passed, depending on confrontation or retreat, the parasympathetic division is activated, and the opposite occurs; heart rate slows down, blood pressure comes down, blood is diverted back to the skin and blood vessels of the sweat glands and other organs, breathing becomes more shallow, pupils become constricted, and the digestive and other systems become active. (Ibid., 11-13)

 

 


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