what was the cause of death for edgar allan poe?
Tuberculosis
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 The death of Edgar Allan Poe on October 7 , 1849 , has remained mysterious : the circumstances leading up to it are uncertain and the cause of death is disputed . On October 3 , Poe was found delirious on the streets of Baltimore , Maryland , " in great distress , and ... in need of immediate assistance " , according to the man who found him , Joseph W. Walker . He was taken to the Washington College Hospital , where he died at 5 a.m. on Sunday , October 7 . Poe was never coherent enough to explain how he came to be in this condition . 

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 All medical records and documents , including Poe 's death certificate , have been lost , if they ever existed . The precise cause of Poe 's death is disputed , but many theories exist . Many biographers have addressed the issue and reached different conclusions , ranging from Jeffrey Meyers ' assertion that it was hypoglycemia to John Evangelist Walsh 's conspiratorial murder plot theory . It has also been suggested that Poe 's death might have resulted from suicide related to depression . In 1848 , he nearly died from an overdose of laudanum , readily available as a tranquilizer and pain killer . Though it is unclear if this was a true suicide attempt or just a miscalculation on Poe 's part , it did not lead to Poe 's death a year later . 

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 Numerous other causes of death have been proposed over the years , including several forms of rare brain disease or a brain tumor , diabetes , various types of enzyme deficiency , syphilis , apoplexy , delirium tremens , epilepsy and meningeal inflammation . A doctor named John W. Francis examined Poe in May 1848 and believed Poe had heart disease , which Poe later denied . A 2006 test of a sample of Poe 's hair provides evidence against the possibility of lead poisoning , mercury poisoning , and similar toxic heavy @-@ metal exposures . Cholera has also been suggested . Poe had passed through Philadelphia in early 1849 during a cholera epidemic . He got sick during his time in the city and wrote a letter to his aunt , Maria Clemm , saying that he may " have had the cholera , or spasms quite as bad " . 

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 On September 27 , 1849 , Poe left Richmond , Virginia , on his way home to New York . No reliable evidence exists about Poe 's whereabouts until a week later on October 3 , when he was found delirious on the streets of Baltimore , outside Ryan 's Tavern ( sometimes referred to as Gunner 's Hall ) . A printer named Joseph W. Walker sent a letter requesting help from an acquaintance of Poe , Dr. Joseph E. Snodgrass . His letter reads : 

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 Poe is buried on the grounds of Westminster Hall and Burying Ground , now part of the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore . Even after his death , he created controversy and mystery . 
