Oldest Leukaemia Patient

Archaeologists from the University of Tubingen, Germany have discovered a 7000-year-old skeleton of a woman who they say was a patient of leukaemia. The skeleton was found in the Neolithic graveyard in Germany’s StuttgartMuhlhausen.

Researchers while examining the skeleton used high resolution computer tomography which helped them detect indications of blood cancer (leukaemia) in the woman’s skeleton who died between 30 and 40 years of age. A diagnosis of the woman’s skeleton revealed that there was an unusual loosening of the interior bone tissue in the upper right humerus and sternum.  The woman was also affected by alveolar inflammation and dental caries.

Dr Heike Scherf who was part of the research asserted that these revelations strongly point to the fact that the individual was suffering from leukaemia. However, the team could not determine whether the woman died from the disease.

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