<P> Little is known about the health of Frédéric's father, Nicolas Chopin, who lived to the age of 74 and suffered several times from respiratory infections . The composer's mother had no chronic illness and reached the age of 87 . </P> <P> Of Frédéric's three sisters, Izabela died at age 70 and had no illnesses; Ludwika suffered from recurrent respiratory infections and died at 47; the youngest, Emilia, was of frail health from earliest childhood . Emilia suffered from recurrent coughs and dyspnea; at 11 she began having hemorrhages from the upper gastrointestinal tract, and she died of a massive hemorrhage at 14 . </P> <P> Chopin was diagnosed with tuberculosis and treated for it in accordance with contemporary practice, including bloodletting and purging . Tuberculosis figured in his death certificate, despite the alleged absence of typical organ changes . Critics of alternative hypotheses about Chopin's disease point out the abundant evidence for tuberculosis . Chronic coughs and hemoptysis are common symptoms of tuberculosis; complications may include both pericarditis, causing right - heart insufficiency, and bronchiectasis, manifesting in productive cough and respiratory failure . </P> <P> A 20 - year history of hemoptysis is rare in tuberculosis but not impossible . Similarly, cavernous tuberculosis is rare in childhood, but it cannot be excluded in the case of Emilia Chopin . Frédéric could have contracted tuberculosis from his younger sister . Against the diagnosis of tuberculosis stands the fact that some physicians who cared for Chopin did not diagnose him with that common, well - known disease . Another argument against tuberculosis is the absence, in Cruveilhier's report, of organ changes typical of tuberculosis, and gastrointestinal symptoms that cannot be explained by tuberculosis . </P>

Frederic _ only wore a beard on his right side