The remarkable work of French researchers has brought to light the incredibly realistic face of a Cro-Magnon man. The first realization about a person of this extinct race, revealed, what has long been called a monster. Affected by neurofibromatosis, the disease suffered by Elephant Man, the hero of David Lynch’s film, a rarity which, in no case, should be generalized to all his contemporaries.
Researchers from the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin and the prehistory department of the Musée de l’Homme in Paris have just proposed a digital reconstruction of the skull called Cro-Magnon 1 which was kept at the museum. With the help of medical anthropologist Philippe Charlier and paleoanthropologist Antoine Balzeau, from the department of prehistory, the Musée de l’Homme, found that he was a carrier of a genetic disease, which causes benign tumors of the peripheral nerves , both superficial and deep. They are called neurofibromas, hence the name of the disease.
Recklinghausen disease
Neurofibromatosis – since there are three main families – are genetic diseases that occur during the production of the skin in the fetus
The best known form is Recklinghausen’s disease, named after the doctor who first spoke of it in 1881. It was this form from which Elephant Man suffered, the hero of the film which had worldwide success in the 80s.
live hidden
The importance of this progressive affection is extremely variable from one individual to another. The vast majority of patients have only “coffee with milk” spots present from birth, then often appearing at puberty, a few small and few benign tumors.
Unfortunately, sometimes, the attack is much more important, very many cutaneous neurofibromas of variable size (some being able to reach 3-4 cm in diameter). These are not serious tumors but they make life in society difficult because of the gaze of others if these tumors are located on the face or exposed parts of the body.
This often goes with bone deformities.
Rare sickness
Fortunately, these are orphan diseases because apart from surgery there is no treatment. This pushes the most affected people to live in hiding. It is moreover a patient suffering from this disease, who was one of the first to benefit from the face transplant, in Paris, by Professor Lantiéri. But fortunately, they are also very rare. Hence the lightness of their generalization to all Cro-Magnon men as some media do today.
The realization is remarkable, the fast interpretation a little less
The gene for this disease is passed on, but needs a mutation for symptoms to appear. not in its shape Imagine that in 30,000 years extra-terrestrials discover the skeleton of some of our contemporaries whose name it is useless to say but who have a “different” physique to draw the profile of the human race? It could be comical. Well, that’s what we’re doing with this poor representative of Cro-Magnon. That said, if we are to believe some hypotheses about his disappearance, this anecdote is not the worst of what the human race has done to him!
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