Jesus' Death Originally Misdiagnosed

Experts Say Jesus Died of a Blood Clot

Expert: Crucifixion caused pulmonary embolism, not fatal blood loss

Reuters, Updated: 1:08 p.m. ET June 8, 2005

JERUSALEM - An Israeli researcher has challenged the popular belief that Jesus died of blood loss on the cross, saying he probably succumbed to a sometimes fatal disorder now associated with long-haul air travel.

Professor Benjamin Brenner wrote in The Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis that Jesus’ death, traditionally believed to have occurred 3 to 6 hours after crucifixion began, was probably caused by a blood clot that reached his lungs.

Such pulmonary embolisms, leading to sudden death, can stem from immobilization, multiple trauma and dehydration, said Brenner, a researcher at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

“This fits well with Jesus’ condition and actually was in all likelihood the major cause of death by crucifixion,” he wrote in the article, based on religious and medical texts.

A 1986 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association mentioned the possibility that Jesus suffered a blood clot but concluded that he died of blood loss.

But Brenner said research into blood coagulation had made significant strides over the past two decades. He said recent medical research has linked immobility among passengers on lengthy air flights to deep vein thrombosis, popularly known as “economy-class syndrome” in which potentially fatal blood clots can develop, usually in the lower legs.

Brenner noted that before crucifixion, Jesus underwent scourging, but the researcher concluded that “the amount of blood loss by itself” would not have killed him.

He said that Jesus, as a Jew from what is now northern Israel, may have been particularly at risk of a fatal blood clot.

Thrombophilia, a rare condition in which blood has an increased tendency to clot, is common to natives of the Galilee, the researcher wrote.

This is clearly a case of medical malpractice. If we Christians can get our acts together we can sue someone. It doesn't help though that Bush, with his corporate buddies, has reduced pain and suffering awards to a pittance.

Now, I have a problem with this: Thrombophilia, a rare condition in which blood has an increased tendency to clot, is common to natives of the Galilee, the researcher wrote. The Son of God was not and never sick, period. End of discussion.

Here's info on Protein S deficiency and Thrombophilia.

The tendency for abnormal blood clotting is known as thrombophilia (hypercoagulable state). A blood clot (thrombus) is important to stop us bleeding to death when we cut ourselves but in a person with the condition (thrombophiliac) the clotting process (thrombosis, coagulation) is out of control and causing a blood clot to form inside an unbroken blood vessel. If left unchecked it can lead to the loss of blood supply to tissues beyond the clot which then become damaged - sometimes with fatal consequences.

I can't help but be (passively) insulted by the suggestion. I see where they are coming from but sheesh! What next? Jesus had diabetes and asthma?