Neurology in the medical papyruses of the pharaohs
Correspondencia: Dr. Esteban García-Albea Ristol. Sección de Neurología. Hospital Universitario Príncipe de Asturias. Ctra. Alcalá-Meco, s/n. E-28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid.
The civilization of Ancient Egypt included a long period of almost three millenniums, and is the most interesting example of the so-called pretechnical archaic cultures. Papyrus scrolls are the main source of information about medical activities. There are fourteen medical papyrus scrolls, in varying states of conservation, mostly corresponding to the Middle Empire, but containing references to the Ancient Empire (the period of the pyramids). These are practical treaties with little explanation of the underlying pathology (a primitive theory of the 'flow' of humors, involving the flowing of different malignant entities) within a system of magic and religion. The empirical observations referring to diseases or dysfunctions of the nervous system, although few, seem to be worth reviewing. Remedies for migraine ('the disorder affecting half the head') take up a long chapter of the only complete and best preserved Ebers papyrus. Dementia (deterioration with age), convulsions and tetany are briefly mentioned in several papyrus scrolls. With the detailed description of the clinical findings of cranial and vertebral trauma, and the orderly assessment of severity presented in Edwin Smith's papyrus the neurology of pharaonic Egypt attained its greatest importance.
