Asterix books contain 704 victims of brain injury, study finds

Amplify’d from m.guardian.co.uk

A paper published in the European Journal of Neurosurgery, Acta Neurochirurgica, examines the much-loved books in detail, discovering that of the 704 victims, 698 were male and 63.9% were Roman. One hundred and twenty were Gauls, 59 were bandits or pirates, 20 were Goths, 14 were Normans, eight were Vikings, five were Britons and four were extraterrestrials.

Using signs such as "raccoon eyes" – periorbital ecchymoses – or an "outstretched and sideward-pointing tongue" (paresis of the hypoglossal nerve) to identify traumatic brain injury, and ranking the seriousness of the injuries on the standard Glasgow coma scale, they found that in 696 cases the damage was caused by blunt force, while strangulation led to eight cases of head injury.

The paper concludes, in admirably deadpan fashion, that "the favourable outcome ... is astonishing, since outcome of traumatic brain injuries in the ancient world is believed to have been worse than today and also since no diagnostic or therapeutic procedures were performed". Read more at m.guardian.co.uk

 

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