One of the most important details of ancient Egyptian art – cylinders in the hands of pharaohs – is now being widely used in medicine.

A doctor from St. Petersburg reveals what he believes to be the secrets of the cylinders. In 1973, physician Vladimir Kovtun came to St. Petersburg to visit his fiancée and was first introduced to the Egyptian mystery in one of the city’s museums. Looking closely at the images of Egyptian pharaohs, he noticed that they were holding two cylindrical objects in their hands.

“I was thinking about the secret of the Egyptian cylinders for a long time and in 1976, after examining a lot of documents, I created a copy of the zinc and copper cylinders and made my first research. It showed that these objects can positively influence the human body,” said Kovtun.

Vladimir says the combination of copper and zinc on contact with human skin can create a special current that stimulates the human body. The way the cylinders work is simple: you simply need to hold the objects for a certain amount of time every day, or place them between the parts of the body that hurt.

Vladimir spent more then 30 years perfecting the concept and the result of his work are dozens of medical articles, several books and TV programs. However, it’s not only the inventor himself who's done all the research, but also several independent doctors have been studying the results.

“We spent several months examining the cylinders, and in the end the conclusion is that these objects can really help the human body. We advise that they be used as a way to support the immune system,” said Natalya Timokhina of the Health Center Vikon.

Katya, a young karate instructor, spent months investigating the influence of the cylinders. She took several plants and watered some with normal water, and used water that had been standing between the cylinders on others. The result surprised even her.

“The one watered with the cylinder water grew much faster. And this is just one example of how the cylinders can help. I'm using them in every single championship I’m taking part in,” said Katya.

However, many specialists on Egyptian history have poured doubt on the whole theory.

“The cylinders have nothing to do with Egyptian history. Moreover, there is no information nor documents about these kind of objects found near the pharaohs,” said Egyptologist Mikhail Chegodaev.

While the battle between believers and sceptics rages – the number of grateful letters received by its inventor grows daily. He makes no claims about discovering the secret to eternal life – he merely thinks it can help those who truly believe in it.