According to the latest version, the cause of death of the commander was Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Dr. Katherine Hall from the University of Otago (New Zealand) has proposed her own theory to explain the unusual death of Alexander the Great. She published it in The Ancient History Bulletin.
Alexander the Great died on June 10 or 13, 323 BC. Death came after 10 days of fever. There are several versions of the reasons for his death, but none of them has been proven for certain. They all interpret historical facts and documents differently. One version speaks of infection with malaria, the other - with West Nile fever. It is also assumed that the commander could have been poisoned by a poisonous hellebore or a potion based on a white hellebore. Dr. Catherine Hall came up with a more radical idea. In her opinion, death was due to Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute autoimmune inflammatory polyneuropathy (multiple lesions of the peripheral nerves). During the progression of the syndrome, most patients show signs of infection of the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract.
Catherine Hall turned to this disease because, unlike all other theories, it explains the amazing evidence: Alexander's body showed no signs of decay for six days after death. However, it does not exclude other facts: fever, abdominal pain and progressive ascending paralysis. She believes that the disease began with Campylobacter pylori infection, which is characteristic of GBS and is known to be widespread at the time.
The researcher also draws attention to the fact that Alexander maintained his sanity until his death. This symptom fits into the diagnosis of acute axonal motor neuropathy, which causes paralysis but does not affect cognitive function. At the same time, she notes that earlier the diagnosis of death was based on the presence or absence of breathing, but not the pulse. Given the paralysis and reduced oxygen demand, it seems likely that his breathing may have become almost imperceptible. From this she concludes that the commander was considered dead ahead of time:
“I would like to initiate a debate and possibly rewrite history textbooks, because I believe that the real death of Alexander came six days later than previously thought. This is probably even the most famous case of falsely diagnosed death in history."
Last summer, archaeologists found the alleged birthplace of Henry VII - King of England, who ended the War of the Roses by defeating Richard III's army at the Battle of Bosworth.
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