Abstract
Background: Of all the women and men that participated in Mexico’s independence movement, no one has more historical documents and records written about himself than Agustín de Iturbide, who in 1821, in a dramatic turn of events, drafted a plan, the treaties, a flag, and a constitution; brought the key belligerents to the negotiating table; and opened the door for peace that would consummate Mexico as an independent nation.
Objectives: To identify moments in which health and disease affected the path for Mexico’s Independence.
Methods: Following the events that led to Mexico’s independence we reviewed primary sources to identify key moments in which disease affected history, and we describe the knowledge of these conditions in that particular period of time.
Results: On contemporary literature about Agustin de Iturbide we identified the following medical conditions that could have an impact on history: difficult labor, epidemics, dysentery, arsenic intoxication, and facial palsy. We also discuss details of a failed execution by firing squad and the possibility of Iturbide being killed by coup de grâce.
Conclusions: We identified a series of events in which disease and the practice of medicine of the 18th and 19th centuries could have impacted the history of the independence of Mexico.