A man of many maladies: How Churchill survived being Churchill

With the 80th anniversary of VE Day having just passed, it might be opportune to take a quick look back at the quirky medical history of the second-most recognisable figure from World War II (WWII). In past Dorsal Views, we have covered Hitler’s odd medical regimen, notable Irish doctors who risked all for patient care, and some of the drugs that were used to ‘pep-up’ the troops. But the picture would not be complete without Winston Churchill.

Born in 1874 into an upper-class household, Churchill’s family were connected with British royalty, and his grandfather was a Duke. Historical accounts show that his first serious brush with illness was pneumonia as a child, when he was treated with alcohol, administered as a ‘stimulant’. During the War, he suffered another bout while in North Africa, and it is thought that his life was only saved by sulphonamides given to him at a US military hospital. Pneumonia would be back to haunt him and he suffered a total of three bouts during WWII. By the time he had his final brush with pneumonia in the 1950s, penicillin was available.

He suffered a minor stroke in 1949, a fact that was kept very quiet by his physicians.

Churchill suffered a more serious event in 1953, which caused a left hemiparesis. His doctor – more about him later – was Dr Charles McMoran Wilson, later to be the first Baron Moran. He is more commonly referred to as ‘Lord Moran’, or perhaps ‘Dr Moran’ to his close friends. He cared for Churchill in tandem with his neurologist, the wonderfully-named Dr Sir Russell Brain, who was President of the RCP from 1950 to 1956.

Churchill’s other interactions with the health system included an appendicectomy, repair of an inguinal hernia, risky surgery for a fractured femur at the age of 87, a femoral venous thrombosis followed by two months in hospital, atrial fibrillation, jaundice, salmonellosis, fracture of his fifth thoracic vertebra, seborrhoeic dermatitis, and a dislocated shoulder.

He is thought to have had a total of six or seven strokes before the one that took his life on 24 January 1965, at the age of 90.

The Oxford Academic Postgraduate Medical Journal notes that Churchill also had two accidents that could have ended his life prematurely. As a teenager, Churchill and his friends were playing tag when he jumped off a bridge, aiming to grab onto a tree branch, in an effort to avoid being ‘tagged’. However, he misjudged the distance and fell around nine metres, straight onto hard ground. Two small cervical fractures were attributed to this fall, as well as concussion.

Then while on a speaking tour of the US in 1931, he stepped out onto a road and made a common mistake by visitors to New York by looking the wrong way before crossing. Churchill was directly hit by a speeding car. Miraculously, he survived with only pleural haemorrhage, fractured fingers, toes, ribs, and nose, and a generous helping of cuts and bruises.

Much has been made of how Hitler supposedly had ‘the devil’s luck’, having narrowly avoided being killed in WWI, as well as escaping almost unscathed following an attempt on his life using a briefcase bomb. It would also appear that Churchill was similar to a cat who used up most of his nine lives.

In terms of medications, the International Churchill Society notes that his drug regimen included medications that influenced his public appearances. These included amfetamine 5mg, amylobarbital 32mg, and ‘minors’ such as amfetamine 2.5mg, aspirin 160mg, phenacetin 160mg. It’s not clear how often Churchill took these drugs, but he did comment that following his stroke in 1953, the amfetamines “cleared my head and gave me great confidence”. He was also famously fond of Champagne and large meals, followed by a cigar and brandy.

As for Dr Moran, he is not without controversy. He was Churchill’s personal physician from 1940 until his patient’s demise in 1965. The following year, he released his memoirs, much to the disgust of Churchill’s family and political associates. His medical colleagues were none too happy either, as they considered the contents to be a breach of patient confidentiality. In a bid to put the issue to rest, Dr Moran republished the work in two editions. The overall indignation was not helped by the fact that Dr Moran’s memoirs contained opinions on Churchill’s fitness to lead the country in the War. Needless to say, in a country where Churchill is hailed as a national hero, many took issue with the doctor’s final diagnosis.