The terrible disease on ancient Egyptian mummies

About 2900 years ago, an Egyptian man died at the age of 20 after suffering from a rare disease almost like cancer and also the cause of diabetes.

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The mummy was found in a 2300-year-old coffin of a woman named Kareset currently located at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, Croatia.

Initially, the team thought that the mummy belonged to Kareset but the test results were not like that. It is possible that the merchants of the 19th century, who wanted to increase the value of the coffin, "took away" some mummies placed inside.

Conducting the analysis, the researchers used X-rays, CT scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They found signs of Hand-Schuller-Christian disease (also known as systemic osteosarcoma or organ disease ) - a mysterious disease involving Langerhans cells (a type of immune cell in the skin). , causing great pain, especially at the end.

Scanned images show a big hole in
Mummy's forehead. (Photo: Mislav Cavka)

"They tend to replace the normal structure of bones and all other soft tissues," said Dr. Dr. Morlav Cavka, MD, from the University of Zagreb. 'We believe it is a type of cancer'.

The disease destroyed many bones in his body, leaving serious damage to puncture the cell membrane in the spine and skull area. Scanned images also show what looks like a big hole in the top of the forehead, causing part of the eye socket to be destroyed. In addition, this is also likely why there is a sign of diabetes on that mummy.

Although the cause of the disease has not been determined, scientists are sure that it is rare with an incidence of 1 / 560,000 adults, more likely to occur in young men."In ancient times, it was always a deadly disease, but today, treatment is not difficult ," Cavka added.

New findings are detailed in the most recent issue of the Antropologicum Collegium magazine, contributing to solving long-standing scientific debates about whether or not the prevalence of cancer in ancient times. .

Some scholars believe that the average life expectancy is relatively low, and that the environment is less polluted and the rate of cancer at this stage is negligible. However, many others do not think so, just because it was hard to detect at that time.

Reference: Livescience