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Reuters file
Osama bin Laden, seen here in a 1998 photo, has long been thought to have Marfan syndrome, a connective tissue disorder. The rumor is back following the terror leader's capture and killing.
Amid all the news about Osama bin Laden’s private life -- the home videos, the dyed beard, the reports of a medicine chest stocked with Avena syrup either to soothe a sour stomach or rev a flagging libido – comes a renewed rumor about the terror leader’s health.
Within days of the raid by Navy SEALS at a Pakistani compound, skeptics were resurfacing claims that it wasn’t actually a gunshot to the head last week that killed bin Laden at all. It was Marfan syndrome, a rare connective tissue disease that can cause disfigurement and sudden death.
That was the theory from Dr. Steve R. Pieczenik, a former state department official and apparent conspiracy theorist, who alleged years ago that bin Laden actually died in 2001 from the genetic disorder some claim affected Abraham Lincoln. His comments were broadcast last week on The Alex Jones syndicated radio show.
Back then, after the 9/11 terror attacks, medical experts weighed in on bin Laden’s tall, frame, lanky limbs and long face, all classic physical symptoms of Marfan syndrome. The disorder is also characterized by less visible problems such as severe nearsightedness, joint troubles and heart problems that can lead to the sudden rupture of the aorta.
“He is Marfanoid,” Dr. Richard Devereux was quoted as telling Salon.com nearly a decade ago. “He seems to have long fingers and long arms. His head appears to be elongated and his face narrow … It’s certainly conceivable that he has the Marfan syndrome and could be evaluated for it.”
Devereux, a New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center expert who treats patients with Marfan syndrome, doesn’t want to talk about bin Laden now, a hospital spokesman said.
Related: What was in medicine chests at bin Laden compound?
But Dr. Hal Dietz, a geneticist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who first mapped Marfan mutations, said the theory isn’t any more valid now than it was then.
True, bin Laden had some physical characteristics linked to Marfan syndrome, which affects about 1 in 5,000 people.
“He was quite tall and he had a long, narrow face,” Dietz said.
But bin Laden didn’t have deep-set, downward-slanting eyes of those with Marfan syndrome. He had no skeletal deformities and no evidence of heart problems that might have resulted in an aortic tear or rupture. There seems to have been no sign of the dominant genetic disorder in his children, Dietz said.
In fact, Dietz – who is so familiar with the signs he often spots people with Marfan in public places like restaurants and theme parks – says he wouldn’t have flagged bin Laden as a potential patient at all.
“I think it’s pure speculation with minimal basis in fact,” Dietz said.
With bin Laden, however, it'll likely take more than mere facts to put this rumor -- or any other -- to rest.
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Leave a Comment:
Just when you thought you heard it all...
Don't you realize that he is an "expert" in these things?! Let's all remember what the definition of expert is:
ex - a has been
spert - a drip under pressure
I think that Dr. Steve R. Pieczenik is definitely an expert in this field and we should listen to his sage advice.
gotta love crazy people, always good for entertainment.
You people really don't think there was a possibility that everything the government has told us about Bin Laden was complete bull sh$#? How the hell are people supposed to expose the truth when everyone is so closed minded they believe what ever they're told?
I'm not saying this guy is right, not at all. I just think this whole "Surprise! Bin Laden is dead!" thing is really fishy. How they hell could this stupid lanky mother f@#$er have hidden from us for 10 years? We found Saddam buried in a hole in the middle of the desert. If we wanted to find Bin Laden (or could find him for that matter) we would have.
I'll agree, this guy is probably smoking something. But don't be so closed minded if someone calls bull sh@# on Operation Geronimo....
I gues ya trying to convince the kaka for brains crowd. Good luck.
Dr. Steve "alleged years ago that bin Laden actually died in 2001 from the genetic disorder some claim affected Abraham Lincoln."
Yeah, that whole bullet to the head thing is a real killer "disease" ... not sure about a genetic link, but boy oh boy does it scramble them brains but good.
for those that are interesting in researching Dr. Pieczenik...
This UK google search seems to confirm some of his history:
after entering www.google.co.uk paste the following search term:
/search?hl=en&safe=off&tbs=tl%3A1%2Ctl_num%3A100&q=%22Deputy+Assistant+Secretary+of+State%22+pieczenik&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=
All you guys talk like you know everything you need to know on the subject from just this article. First off, notice they don't make any claims attacking Steve's credibility. He's not only a Dr, but he actually worked with Bin Laden fighting the soviets and served under 5 administrations. He basically wrote the book on Black Ops, Teaches Stand Down False Flag Attacks at the War College and served in the Navy for over a decade. Tom Clancy actually bases his character Jack Ryan on Pieczenik in his books. This can be verified by just opening one of his books. You might want to actually try listening to the interviews with Alex Jones instead of just believing the summary your spoon fed on TV. Because he actually does know what he is talking about. And if you really can't believe that governments lie god help us.
Thanks saxman, good way to wake up.
Has this clown watched a basketball game lately? He could probably classify half the kids playing in the NCAA and half the men in the NBA as Marfanoid.
Anything for one's 15 minutes of fame these days.
People can simply be tall and lanky without having Marfan's Syndrome. In fact, the vast majority of tall people do not have a disease causing their appearance.
Ten years ago, when Dr. Devereux said that Osama bin Ladenwas "Marfanoid," he wasn't claiming that OBL HAD Marfan's Syndrome, just that he had some similar-appearing features (thus the "oid").
I am familiar with Marfan's and from photos, Osama bid Laden does NOT appear to me to have Marfan's. Plus, there have been no substantiated reports of him having other less visible signs and medical problems of Marfan's.
Throughout history, tall men have had an advantage in gaining the admiration of others and thus leaders are collectively taller than average men. Tall men also tend to earn more money; you can Google tall men leaders to see examples.
Yeah and Jesus and Abraham Lincoln were supposed to have Marfan's too. Usama was suppose to be on hemodialysis as well, toting his dialysis machine around the desert on a camel and all the other equipment tagging along behind. The sudden death from Marfan's does not usually come in the form of a Navy Seal. To misquote Monty Python misquoting th Bible..."There will be rumors of rumors or rumors...". At least no one has blamed red or blue, dems or repubs so far...(Uh-Oh! My bad).
What started the kidney failure rumor is that he had kidney stones and gallstones and was being treated for that.
Anyway, his hands don't seem any longer than mine, and I don't have Marfan's.
The test is to take your thumb and bend it toward your wrist. If you can touch your wrist with the thumb of the same hand you may have Marfan's.
Look at all the idiots hanging on to what the White House tells them and the bigger idiots/shills defending them. Someone with credentials comes in and destroys the official version as if though the white house's changing series of events didn't do it, that person is called a conspiracy theorist.
So now the official definition of a conspiracy theory is anything that goes against the official lie?
Gullible Americans.
First we were told that bin laden was killed in a firefight, then we were told no one in the compound actually had any weapons. We were also told that OBL used his wife as a human shield, then they changed their story about that. Then were were told that a government official took DNA sample to confirm it was OBL - wouldn't it make more sense to get an independent doctor to test the DNA - someone who has nothing to gain. All I'm saying is that the official version has been changed so many times - just like 9/11 that it has no credibility.
But hey we all believe what we want to believe and I stopped believing in fairy tales at age 6.
Dr. Steve P. doesn't guess...he knows because he's spoken to the doctors who HAVE TREATED HIM FOR THIS DISEASE. Check out Dan Rather's story in Sep 2002 where he speaks to the hospital which the CIA took over and treated Bin Laden in the night before 9/11.
Look up Dr. Steve's resume befoe you label him a conspiracy theorist. And shame on you MSNBC, instead of being a bailout grabbing arm of GE, perhaps you should require actual hard proof of his death instead of taking the governments word for it.
This government, by the way, are the ones who brought you the following lies AND COVERUPS of WMDs in Iraq, Yellow Cake, anthrax, Jessica Lynch, Pat Tillman, Gulf of Tonkin, operation northwoods, torture, 1 million dead Iraqis, NEED I GO ON?
Freedomwriter: WMD's in Iraq was a lie propagated by Saddam Hussein to try and keep Iran in-check. See if you can find Saddam's final interview before they hung him. He very candidly explains why he wanted Iran, and the world, to believe that at least some aspects of his WMD program were still active. He lied and (unfortunately) Bush took him at his word. As far as "1 million dead Iraqis" that number is itself a lie. Independent counts put the number around 100,948 - 110,255 civilian deaths, or roughly 1/10th the number you've parroted.
Additionally:
Emphasis mine-- so blaming the government for "1 million dead Iraqis" is blatant misinformation. The number is markedly lower and the majority were caused by their own countrymen.
http://www.iraqbodycount.org/
Yeah, he died of a heart attack (this could have happened at any time in his life). Coincidentally Seal Team Six just happened to be there at the time. Sounds like the Teabaggers are at it again.
Seal Team 6 was actually there to take OBL in for a medical evaluation and treatment. Yeppers.
No. To die of a heart attack can only happen at the end of ones life. To die of a heart attack at 20 and live to 80 would just be odd. Just poking fun.
Stress can cause elevated blood pressure which could rupture the aorta or just bring on a heart attack. However, I really think he died of an acute case of lead poisening. Or was his hot lead injection a cure to our problems. Either way. Props to Obama for going ahead with the plan. Many things could have went wrong (some did). It could have blown up in his face, the safer route would have been to bomb it, but he would have lost intel. Still don't agree with some of his ideas, but applaud his, and his advisors, handling of this.
P.S. This action brought to you by a well trained and funded military.
@Siara Another idiot bringing politics into something that has nothing to do with politics
Well my grandson has marfan syndrom and also does not have sunk in or downward slopping eyes, you can not always tell a book by it's cover. But I just want to say I do not like the word marfanoid, it sounds like a monster disease! As to whether OBL was killed that day or not I can not say.
The Marfans are coming! The Marfans are coming!
Love it!
Doug, you win our very prestigious Comment Of The Day award: http://twitter.com/#!/bodyodd
Well, thank god we were able to get all of the below to play along with our plot to fool the world:
Bin Ladens Son
His Wives
The Pakistani Government
Al'Qaida itself for not ruining our little celebration of his death
It's a real coup for our foreign department to get all of those folks to play along and not ruin the surprise that he's been dead for 10 years.....
"Weekend at Bin Laden".
Bad News Day!
Bin Laden didn't have a long, narrow face. There was a photo of him as a teenager circulating years back that showed clearly the guy had no chin! I remember wondering if he was attracted to Islam mostly by the prospect of wearing a long beard.
John Kerry, on the other hand, clearly has a long narrow face.
yes with slanted eyes so will he come up in this discussion....what a way of wasting time on a person who has already been shot dead and thrown into the ocean and already eaten by fish and now becoming part of the seabed.......unbelievable -- Geico, 15 minutes can you save money or time or sanity!!!!!
Hmmm, I wonder if this guy diagnosed Scottie Pippen with Marfans as well??? If Scottie had a long beard and the right clothes, he could be bin Laden's brother.
I would say there is as much a chance as not that Bin Laden has been dead for ten years. We were played to keep the "war on terror" going. Have you noticed that Obama has moved away from hope and change and is now using the terror card like Bush did? We are supposed to be so worried about terror that our cell phones will now be required to have chips in them to send us urgent messages from the government, right.
Ben ; get the heavy duty tin foil,and stop using your bluetooth it removes thoughts from your frontal lobe and replaces them with control patterns.
What planet are you living on?
Just another academic trying to make a name for himself (& pull in grand $$) by publishing un-researched guess work.
I watched the Bulls/Hawks playoff game last night, and based on some of the symptoms such as the tall frame and lanky limbs, I can conclude that at least 25 percent of the participants are "Marfanoids." As a matter of fact, I'll go a step further and say that at least 25% of NBA players suffer from this disease.
Can't you tell I am a doctor....
Really? I thought maybe you just stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
I heard several years ago that UBL had Marfan's syndrome; it's possible that he was just tall. At this point it doesn't really matter.
These experts can spend all the time they want analyzing his pictures and fantasizing about his existent or non existent medical conditions.
But in the end, we all know he was mentally disturbed and spiritually flawed. This is what ultimately led to the bullet in his head and his death and cure.
This guy just needs to go away. Marfan syndrome...wow.
Let's just throw some BS out there to fuel the conspiracy nuts. There are already a bunch of idiots out there who want to give credit to Bush for finding him. Even after Bush's exit speach announcing that Osama Bin Laden had dissapeared and we had no idea where he could possibly be...even as the intellegence reports that hit Condolisa Rice's desk were dismissed as not having enough substance to follow up on...now this.
Interesting the doctor who originally diagnosed Bin Laden with Marfans doesn't want to talk about it now. I am guessing he won't change his story and the people in charge are telling him not to talk about it.
Those of you who so vehemently want to believe the governments story-go ahead. I, personally, prefer to pursue the truth.
jsiwonder, pursuing the truth is a never-ending quest, particularly if you are not willing to accept reasonable and qualified experts and testimony. Some things will never be known, short of actually witnessing an event close-up. Moving on involves a willingness to look at probabilities and human nature in order to assess the probity of many of these far-fetched conspiracies. Short of having an analytical mind that can sort through likely BS and possible facts, most people are like sheep being herded by those who profess to have the facts or some explanation, however unlikely. The "truth" is often the simpler of the presented alternatives.
That said, how many people of perfect loyalty would have been involved in keeping UBL's past death a secret? Thousands, right? Do you REALLY think that is likely? And how are you coming on that search for the truth about Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance?
I know one thing Bin Laden suffered from.......accute lead poisoning.
A local bar was having a drink special last weekend. They called it the Bin Laden. Two shots and a splash of water....
I guess we can conclude that Lincoln didn't die from a gunshot wound to the head, he actually died from Marfan in 1861.
Dave, I think you are on to something. Perhaps Lincoln was not really shot at Fords Theater, but passed on much earlier, while his death was kept a secret for nefarious government purposes. Sarah, Michelle, Donald, are you getting this?
The article says nothing except some nut was on a rightwing radio show spouting something he had nothing to substantiate
And yet, the hacks at MSNBC see fit to run it and give it a headline as if there was a "there" there. I keep switching my homepace to other news outlets, but most are even worse.
Ah, how I pine for Walter Cronkite!
How about Harry Truman?
Who cares?
You got it!
Does anyone really think that if he died 10 years ago, Bush wouldn't have claimed that???? I mean, Mission Accomplished, really, but we're going to let the next president get credit for his death cuz, i'm gonna tank the economy. come on...
NO one will never know for sure because politics will not let the truth be known until all actors are dead and gone.
How profoundly bizarre is it to assume any government would falsely announce the death of someone as recognizable as Osama Bin Laden. What do you suppose would be their follow-up plan were he then to appear downtown? The Resurrection, Part 2?
Next MSNBC will have Chrissy, Rachel, Ed sayign it was W's fault as being bad Amercian we caused it? Don't know maybe he should look at Kerry (did you know he was in Viet Nam) when he puts down his white flag.
John Wilkes Booth was a Navy Seal, too!
boy, it is a slow news day....
Did this wacko see bin Laden's son in an interview on Monday? Or does that fact not fit into his bias thoughts and unsubstantiated claims.
By "Wacko", you mean the Harvard & MIT grad who worked under Kissinger, Schultz, and James Baker in the State Department, and specialized in black ops & psychological warfare with the Pentagon?
Which of Osama's 26 or so kids are you talking about? The son who admittedly hasn't seen his father in person since April of 2001, except for on TV? The same son who has said Bin Laden video releases in the past were imposters posing as his father? LOL
So when a credible top Govt official comes forward from the intelligence community, and says he read intelligence reports about the CIA visiting Osama in July 2001 while he was receiving care in a hospital, and how he was gravely ill and suffering from Marfan syndrome and advanced Hepatitis C....that is a "conspiracy"...? The French Govt & CIA itself has corroborate the July 2001 hospital visit.
BREAKING NEWS: The U.S Government has just reported that they have infact found a leprechaun at the end of the rainbow. The SEALs have killed him and gave him a proper burial by letting 10 unicorns swoop down and take him to Saturn. We don't have any pictures or video you guys are just going to have to take our word for it because if you don't you're a terrorist or a conspiracy theorist (skeptic, non-believer, infidel of the sanctity of Government).
WACKO - Its a term used to denote the mentally unstable. He has obviously lost his mind along with the mentally unstable that would support his delusions. Seek help wacko!
Just like in every government conspiracy the TRUTH BEHIND THE LIES will never be known. We are still waiting for 2027 to learn about the "sealed" documentation of the TRUTH behind President Kennedy's assassination. Take it from there.
But I can't wait until 2027 to get that info!!! Don't you all know the end of the world is beginning on May 21st. Oh bother....what to do....he's dead....he's not dead......the world is ending......it's not ending....
Where is the tin foil when you really need it.