| Chapter 3: neurology in ancient Egypt. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 19892106 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
Neurology, in the modern sense, did not exist in ancient Egypt, where medicine was a compound of natural, magical and religious elements, with different practitioners for each form of healing. Nevertheless, Egyptian doctors made careful observations of illness and injury, some of which involved the nervous system. Modern scholars have three sources of information about Egyptian medicine: papyri, inscriptions, and mummified remains. These tell us that the Egyptians had words for the skull, brain, vertebrae, spinal fluid and meninges, though they do not say if they assigned any function to them. They described unconsciousness, quadriparesis, hemiparesis and dementia. We can recognize neurological injuries, such as traumatic hemiparesis and cervical dislocation with paraplegia, in the well known Edwin Smith surgical papyrus. Similarly recognizable in the Ebers papyrus is a description of migraine. An inscription from the tomb of the vizier Weshptah, dated c. 2455 BCE, seems to describe stroke, and Herodotus describes epilepsy in Hellenistic Egypt. We have very little understanding of how Egyptian physicians organized these observations, but we may learn something of Egyptian culture by examining them. At the same time, modern physicians feel some connection to Egyptian physicians and can plausibly claim to be filling a similar societal role. |
| | |
Authors:
|
George K York; David A Steinberg |
Related Documents
:
|
20608496 - Microtechnologies in neurosurgery. 10028196 - Some theoretical remarks regarding the integration of somatic and psychosocial risk fac... 16151666 - Treatment of "hernia" in the writings of celsus (first century ad). 19628946 - Baboon palm nut harvesters in ancient egypt: new (ancient) evidence, new questions. 19940966 - Environmental risk assessment for medicinal products containing genetically modified or... 21843226 - The evolution of academic performance in emergency medicine journals: viewpoint from 20... |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Historical Article; Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Handbook of clinical neurology / edited by P.J. Vinken and G.W. Bruyn Volume: 95 ISSN: 0072-9752 ISO Abbreviation: Handb Clin Neurol Publication Date: 2010 |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2009-11-06 Completed Date: 2010-12-16 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 0166161 Medline TA: Handb Clin Neurol Country: Netherlands |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 29-36 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
|
Department of Neurology, University of California at Davis, CA, USA. gkyork@ucdavis.edu |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
Egypt History, Ancient Humans Neurology / history* |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Chapter 2: mesopotamia.
Next Document: Chapter 4: neurology in the Bible and the Talmud.