Corpulence and correspondence

摘要

I am familiar with Dr. Sotos' work on the history of sleep apnea and cite it in my article and the manuscript of my book on the history of obesity (Levine DI. Managing Bodies in the Land of Plenty: Diet, Nutrition, and Obesity in the US. In preparation.). His questions about my article bring to light several of the most important and exciting challenges that historians face in attempting to illuminate the patient experience of any illness across the decades. Because of a lack of exact machinery and common fluctuations in reporting, competing measurements of height and weight abound, especially for well-known public figures. Historians must choose which sources they deem most reliable. For my work on Taft, I chose to use corroborated reports of his contemporaries and early biographers (1) instead of sources that relied on self-reporting (such as notoriously inaccurate early data for life insurance purposes) (2). Either approach may well be off the mark by a few inches or pounds, which is why obtaining exact biometric information on historical figures may be impossible. Fortunately, we do not need to know the exact height or weight of a historical figure to find meaning in weight loss patterns, shifting communication techniques between physician and patient, or disease-oriented approaches to obesity. This is the true gift of the historical letters exchanged between Taft and his physician.