Myotonic dystrophy in Ancient Egypt.

Amenhotep IV, better known as Akhenaton, the heretical pharaoh, was a king of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. Statues and reliefs of him show an unhealthy man whose body has abnormal features. By studying the pictures of Akhenaton (the mummy has not yet been found), we conclude that he may have been affected by myotonic dystrophy (MD). Moreover, the available data on his family suggest that MD may have caused the end of the royal bloodline of the Eighteenth Dynasty.