Forgive me if I'm asking the obvious, but do we have a good idea of what Tiny Tim suffered from? I thought pneumonia or rheumatory something.
Considering the time the story takes place, I feel as though I may be overlooking something that only recently became non fatal. I always thought arthritis, but now that I'm not 10 and realize you don't die from that, I am very curious.
He most likely suffered from asthma, as everyone in old London used coal to heat their houses. Burning coal hung in the air, and I believe a lot of people around that time had the same health problems Tiny Tim had.
shareHe most likely suffered from asthma, as everyone in old London used coal to heat their houses. Burning coal hung in the air, and I believe a lot of people around that time had the same health problems Tiny Tim had.
It has never been reveled what Tiny Tim had suffered from, so your guess would be as good as mine, I am not sure if Charles Dickens purposely wrote the book like this, or he couldn't decide what illness he is suffering from. So anybody's guess is just as good and I don't think it will ever be none, if it had been known I would have thought the filmmakers would have found someway to have mentioned it in the movie.
shareRight? In a way it's disappointing there isn't something specific. Less personal I suppose. It's still a great story. Leaves more to the imagination. Thank you for the information. :-)
shareFrom the original story/time period, I always assumed consumption (TB).
You people are the disease, but I've got the cure. ~Morgan on "Chuck"
I feel like TB would be one of the more likely scenarios. If you had to narrow it down. I agree. Due to the time period. Sad for the little guy either way.
shareSad for the little guy and even sadder for his family. This is one Tiny Tim who always makes me cry (something most other ones don't) Robin does *such* a great job!
I also think the coughing and crutch tends to say consumption (TB).
I always cry too!!!! Whew, I'm not alone. I try not to watch it all year until Christmas. It may be the one thing I always look forward to.
shareJust as happens to many children in today's world, he had the misfortune of being born into a poor family. His parents did not have the money to pay for a doctor and/or medical care he needed. With Scrooge as his benefactor, all was well!
shareThe thing about adaptations of Dickens' work is that they often forget to emphasise the horrendous nature of living in the newly-industrialised cities that are frequently the back-drop of his novels. Bad sanitation, a rising population that was forced into very small and inadequate housing, insufficient food, little reliable healthcare, rapid spread of killer diseases and endless filth that tends to follow when thousands of humans are crammed into a confined area. The fog - 'the London Particulars' as they were called would be enough to see you off on their own. A composition of grime and soot hanging in the air for most of the day sometimes in winter and mixed with the stink of sewage you could see why few people were often never really well. Dickens used Tim to emphasise the effect of such conditions on the children. Like the above posts, I don't think he ever thought out exactly what Tim was afflicted with but we can guess he had TB/Asthma and respiratory diseses as STANDARD before you get to the illness that necessitated the stick - probably Polio. He wouldn't have lasted too long with any of these infirmities. Even in the Carol (one of Dickens' lighter works) we have a description of Tim's final resting place as 'replete with too much burying'. That alone gives us an idea of how many of the poor died before their time and ended up in un-marked and over-used graves.For more - read Great Expectations as Pip arrives in the capital for the first time.
shareTiny Tim had RTA, or Renal Tubular Acidosis, a urological disease in which the kidneys fail to properly remove acid from the blood and create urine. RTA can affect pH levels that can cause other side effects. There are different types of RTA but they all deal with basically the same thing.
Stunted growth, weakened and frail bones, kidney stones, and fatigue are very common side effects of untreated RTA. Rickets is also a condition found in most untreated children, which would explain the crutch tiny tim has to use.
Treatment today is usually very easy and those with RTA can live normal lives with daily medication. Back in Tiny Tim's day, however, it probably took a special diet that contained a lot of potassium. His health could have been improved simply with proper nutrition, although he would probably always have some side effects and would never reach adult size.
I know all of this because I have RTA, and Tiny Tim has come up many times in discussions with my doctors and in readings I have done about my own disease.
Liberalism is a mental illness, and it's the only one that's contagious.
Charles Dickens never names what illness Tiny Tim has, other than to say that he wears a brace on his leg, walks with a crutch, is weak, and won't live to see another Christmas. Considering that the story is fiction, Dickens might have meant only to portray Tiny Tim as sickly and in need of medical attention, which Cratchit could not afford on his salary. However, viewers have suggested several possibilities, including polio, tuberculosis, scurvy, and/or rickets. More recently, American pediatric neurologist Donald Lewis has offered the diagnosis of distal renal tubular acidosis, a kidney disorder that makes the blood too acidic and can result in weakness, bone fractures, and problems between nerves and muscles. Although the disease as it is known today was not understood in the 1840s, doctors did recognize the symptoms and did have a cure. Patients would be given alkaline solutions to drink, solutions that would counteract the excessive acid in the blood and recovery would have been swift.
shareOh wow. That's really interesting. I haven't heard that possibility. Thank you! You also reminded me it's time to watch this movie. ?
shareCharles Dickens may not have even needed to explain what Tim suffered from. Due to the condition of life in general, people of that time were surrounded by people and kids that suffered from various diseases and ailments and everybody probably knew someone who suffered similarly to Tiny Tim.
RTA, as you point out, is a very likely suspect. From our modern perspective, we presume he is called Tiny because he was the youngest and thus the smallest. What if it was also because of stunted growth? CD never explains why he is called “Tiny”. As you pointed out, since RTA can stunt growth, maybe that is why he is “tiny”. Again, there may be no need to explain it to the audience of his day as they understood his condition.
From a story standpoint, CD points out that Tiny Tim is cured and it is presumed within the year. From a medical standpoint, the ailment must be curable by their standards with their medicines. That means no modern anti-biotics or penicillin, This would, in my opinion, eliminate Polio and TB.
Yes, there is a good article about the possible ailments here
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/09/wrong-tiny-tim/
Also in the article, Dickens is quoted as having said:-
On June 24, 1865, Dickens wrote: “One of the worst forms of scrofula – rachitism, or rickets . . . arises under the influence of chilly dwellings an insufficient alimentation [nourishment]. . . and milk deprivation in infants.”
Tiny Tim's nickname leads me to believe that he has a genetic disorder. That would make him more vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies than his family members are. His body is always struggling to biologically get up to par, creating heavy demands that are never met. Combined, the problems lead to severely malnourished blood that cannot circulate at a normal pace. The lungs get very dry and irritated. Blood tends to be used more heavily by a person's dominant side which is the right for most of us, accounting for Tiny Tim's crutch for his left leg. Such a condition causes extreme overall weakness and requires either a wheelchair or a body brace. Charles Dickens' intention is to present the youngest Cratchit child as generally sick to make his improved health simple to accept. The boy's primary issue is not cured; only his illness is.
shareI don't know for sure that Dickens gives enough details that we can say for sure it was any one particular illness (and it's been a while since I've read the story). But I'm guessing some sort of chronic respiratory illness -- possibly asthma, TB, or some sort of allergy -- combined with an illness brought on by poor diet. Rickets and RTA can both cause skeletal issues and stunted growth and are now easily treated/cured with proper nutrition.
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