Saturday, June 30, 2007

Tutankhamun suffered from migraines?

Courant.com

Pointing to a photo of the remains of King Tutankhamun, John Shepherd offers his diagnosis: A severe overbite caused a sort of ripple effect in the king's body, leading to migraine headaches.. . . Shepherd has been trying to get copies of X-rays of King Tut for a closer look at the king's "dentoscape" - a term Shepherd uses describe the shape of one's teeth and surrounding area. Using the X-rays available now, Shepherd says the king's overbite would likely lead to migraine headaches.Were Tutankhamun his patient now, Shepherd would equalize the pressure around the jaws. That might mean polishing down some of the teeth or molding a nighttime mouthguard.

Occlusion - the way the upper and lower teeth fit - is the key to solving migraine suffering, he says. . . .Shepherd says trepanation might shed light on a mystery that has dogged archaeologists ever since a 1968 X-ray revealed a hole in the base of the boy king's skull. For a while, many thought the hole was the result of an ssassination attempt or some other form of foul play. Further study in 2005 laid those theories to rest.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like Mr Shepherd is just trying to capitalize of the fame of Tutankhamun. Also it is very unlikely that the SCA would allow trepination of Tut's skull particularly when the results of the CT scan are so conclusive.