Mummy paints picture of stroke treatment in ancient Egypt
A recent scientific study registered the oldest case of an ischemic stroke discovered in an Egyptian mummy.
CAIRO — A study in the latest issue of the World Neurosurgery journal registered the oldest case of an ischemic stroke discovered in an Egyptian mummy. According to the study, the type of mummification suggests that ancient Egyptians knew procedures to rehabilitate stroke patients.
The joint research team based at the Alcalá University in Spain, New Jersey University, and the American University in Cairo, found that “the mummy was of a woman between 25 and 40 years old. The mummification was done professionally as the mummification and evisceration process were performed with precision.”
The team added, “The woman who lived in ancient Egypt suffered from a stroke. This led her left hemisphere to paralysis, and she lived with that condition for several years.”
The Egyptian mummy belongs to the 25th Dynasty and was discovered by the joint Spanish-Egyptian mission working in the Dra’ Abu el-Naga Necropolis area, west of Luxor in southern Egypt.
