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The history of Erbs palsy might be thought to begin with the work of the man after whom it is named, Wilhelm Erb, that was completed in 1874. Even in scientific literature, however, it is possible to find previous mentions of the birth injury - with a different name, of course - in the work of the French doctor Guillaume Duchenne (1855) and the English surgeon William Smellie in 1768.
Early as these seem, it is possible to look at the history of Erbs palsy, and find one of the earliest bits of evidence for the condition in a German Renaissance painting by Albrecht Drer - completed in 1505.
His famous painting, the Madonna and Child, shows an infant Jesus with what has been described as the classic "waiter's tip" to his shoulders.
Some have argued that the posing of the child is simply a result of the artist's desire to create as symbolic a structure in the painting as is possible - hence the almost-hidden apple - and that modern eyes are projecting the birth injury where it was not intended. While it is true that the resulting image carries a symbolic weight, it's also possible - as others have argued - that D rer could have found the symbolism in the image from the reality of a child model with the condition.
Either way, this child could be considered to be the first famous Erbs palsy sufferer - even if this is not what Drer intended, it is something for which the image is now known.
Later celebrities who have been believed to suffer from this form of personal injury include Alexander the Great, Queen Victoria, Wilhelm II of Germany and Joseph Stalin - although there are times where the belief seems to exist despite a lack of evidence, or evidence to the contrary. More modern names include Deanna Durbin and Barbara Frum.
The actor Martin Sheen, however, is on record as mentioning a birth accident in which forceps "mangled" his shoulder. The huge number of fans of The West Wing and Apocalypse Now ensure that this actor is likely to be one of the most famous celebrities to claim a brachial plexus injury publicly.
As he told More Intelligent Life magazine, "When I first came to New York I met a doctor and he said he had an experimental treatment. He thought he could make it right. And I was set to have this operation. So I turned up at his office one day and as I waited so patients came in and they were all of them really crippled. They could hardly move. They had crooked bodies. And I was passing. So I left the office and I determined I'd make out as best I could."
At least one television critic has suggested that the condition has influenced his performances; the trademark flourish with which the President puts on his jacket in the West Wing is a mechanism that Sheen has used all his life to ensure that the condition does not affect or define him, and that's a great example for any other Erbs palsy sufferers.
