- (unsigned)

Well then, (though I've not read it) I suspect Discover magazine is being silly. Rheumatic fever is one consequence of streptococcal pharyngitis. But another is renal failure causing nephrotic syndrome (and thus anasarca). So they can't really "rule out" renal disease (nor can they with much legitimacy argue that Mozart "probably" died of rheumatic fever because it was epidemic). Nor have they listed all the possible causes of anasarca. These "retrospective" diagnoses are always rather tenuous, and should rarely be taken as proven. -  19:27, 5 Jul 2004 (UTC)