In the book Diagnosing the Life and Death of Beethoven's Genius by François Martin Mai, he writes about Beethoven's medical problems. This book interested me because I am studying to enter the medical field and thought it would be particularly exquisite to write and learn the medical history of Beethoven and how he was still able to compose music. Mai writes that Beethoven suffered from deafness, gastrointestinal and psychiatric symptoms, respiratory, rheumatological and ophthalmological symptoms (103). Now, let's explain some of these bigger unknown words that Mai says she has. Gastrointestinal means he has had problems with his stomach and/or intestines. The psychiatric symptoms mean he suffered from some sort of mental illness. Respiratory means he was having trouble breathing or had a problem with his lungs. Rheumatology is generally an autoimmune inflammatory disease. Finally, the ophthalmological symptoms mean that he had an eye problem. Mai found all of these symptoms in "her own letters, letters written by others, the Conversation Books, reports (including an autopsy report) written by her doctors, and a modern toxicology analysis of her hair" (103 ). Mai discovered in his letters that during the winter months he was very ill and had little chance of recovery, but that during the summer months he was sicker.