A British crime writer proffers a theory to explain Austen's death at 41:
[Lindsay Ashford] strengthened her theory when she learned that a lock of Austen's hair bought at an auction in 1948 by a now deceased American couple, had tested positive for arsenic. … She added that it is very likely Austen was given medicines containing arsenic. Indeed, the poison was widely prescribed at that time for anything from rheumatism –- something the novelist admnitted to have suffered from — to syphilis.
The Dish 