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Denna Has Tuberculosis, and Kvothe's Remedy May Be Making It Worse

plausible mechanism · popularity 356 · 1 source thread

Denna's illness is tuberculosis rather than asthma, and Kvothe's deadnettle remedy could be hastening her death.

About: Denna

Also involves: The Cthaeh, Kvothe

The theory§

Denna's chronic respiratory illness is usually assumed to be asthma, but its presentation fits tuberculosis far better: bloody coughing, winter flares, and remission when she winters in the warm, sea-air climate of Yll. Under this reading the Cthaeh's image of Denna 'on the floor with blood in her mouth' describes a tubercular haemorrhage rather than a beating, a true detail the Cthaeh exploits to steer Kvothe toward her patron. The persistent redness of her lips is read as chronic blood rather than cosmetic colour. Most disturbingly, the remedy Kvothe prepares for her contains deadnettle, and the theory holds that an immune-suppressing treatment for a misdiagnosed lung disease could worsen a tubercular infection, meaning Kvothe may be unknowingly hastening Denna's death while trying to help her, a fate that would echo his later folly.

Evidence§

  • Denna has a lung disease. At first glance I'd assumed she suffered from asthma. … But here's the thing about things jumping to mind based solely on symptoms.
    OP sets up the asthma assumption he intends to overturn. — u/IronAndBile
  • One of the differential diagnoses for asthma-like symptoms is tuberculosis. In fact, tuberculosis is often mistakenly diagnosed as asthma.
    Core claim: TB mimics asthma and is commonly misdiagnosed as it. — u/IronAndBile
  • One of the classic manifestations of tuberculosis is **bloody cough**. … Pulmonary tuberculosis comes in flares, often during colder seasons when the immune system tends to weaken (Denna mentions taking to bed every winter).
    Bloody cough and winter flares match Denna's symptoms. — u/IronAndBile
  • The blood in Denna's mouth is not a result of being beaten. She doesn't have asthma, she has tuberculosis. She coughs blood until she passes out (happens to TB patients a lot).
    Reinterprets the Cthaeh's 'blood in her mouth' as a tubercular haemorrhage. — u/IronAndBile
  • Some treatments for asthma exacerbate (worsen) tuberculosis. Kvothe made some medicine for Denna … One if the ingredients is deadnettle. … Kvothe may be inadvertently causing Denna's death.
    The grim twist: Kvothe's deadnettle remedy may be hastening her death. — u/IronAndBile
  • That would explain the description of her lips: "Her lips were red. … As if minutes before you saw her, she had been eating sweet berries, or drinking heart’s blood."
    Comment adds evidence: her perpetually red lips read as chronic blood. — u/awmountain52
  • It seems I might pass an entire winter without being brought to bed by my lungs. My first in years.
    Yll's warm sea air brings remission, fitting seasonal TB flares. — u/ImJustAVG
  • Aren’t her symptoms mostly wheezing and shortness of breath more than coughing?
    CounterCounter: her symptoms skew toward wheezing, not the bloody cough of TB. — u/Gatechap
  • The Cthaeh does say her patron beats her though, and that the most recent beating left her in bad shape. I like this theory but it seems unlikely, though possible.
    CounterCounter: the Cthaeh's explicit beating reference resists a purely TB reading. — u/a_weak_child

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

plausible correct: strong symptomatic fit but speculative diagnosis

Contributors§

Source threads§