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)
