Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was addicted to meth-amphetamine, according to documentation recently released by U.S. intelligence services.
Though it was well-known that Hitler was a hypochondriac surfing through life on a cocktail of drugs, the new disclosures include juicy details, such as that time he took meth before a meeting with Mussolini and "ranted nonstop for two hours."
The Telegraph reports that he took 74 different medications, and was slamming it the final days of the war.
He was initially prescribed a drug called Mutaflor in order to relieve the pain of his stomach cramps.
He was then prescribed Brom-Nervacit, a barbiturate, Eukodal, a morphine-based sedative, bulls’ semen to boost his testosterone, stimulants Coramine and Cardiazol, and Pervitin, an ‘alertness pill’ made with crystal meth-amphetamine.
His reliance on medication became costly, and by the end of 1943, Hitler was dependant on a mentally debilitating cocktail of uppers and downers.
"[Hitler's doctor] Morell was a quack and a fraud and a snake oil salesman,” Bill Panagopoulos, an American collector who discovered the dossier, said.
Wikipedia has the background on Hitler's health troubles and the relentless diet of drugs that supposedly exacerbated them.
Researchers have variously suggested that Hitler suffered from irritable bowel syndrome, skin lesions, irregular heartbeat, coronary sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, syphilis, and tinnitus. … Theories about Hitler's medical condition are difficult to prove, and placing too much weight on them may have the effect of attributing many of the events and consequences of the Third Reich to the possibly impaired physical health of one individual.
Parkinson's Disease, in particular, is widely held to be a major factor in his mental and physical decline.
Dr Tom Hutton, a neurologist who co-authored the study, said Hitler was suffering physical and mental symptoms of the disease, but his aides kept it secret.
He said that by the time of the Normandy landings, Hitler had suffered the disease for 10 years and would have had problems processing conflicting information – hence his initial refusal to allow Panzer divisions to move to the site of the invasion.