Mysterious diseases of some of the famous dictators of history


Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong also made it to age 82. Like Franco, he suffered from poor health for a long time before his death; the last time he was seen in public was in May 1976. It’s not clear exactly what ailed Mao, but he may have had Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degeneration of the nerve cells that control movement.

Mao had a heart attack on Sept. 2, 1976, that proved to be his downfall. Over the next several days, he suffered various crises, including a brush with death from a worsening lung infection. On Sept. 7, Mao fell into a coma from which he never awoke. Doctors took him off life support a day later, and he died a few minutes after midnight on Sept. 9.