Ancient Egyptians had clogged arteries too

3 Feb 2010 04:39 AM

Clogged arteries result from physical inactivity, consumption of high cholesterol foods, as well as smoking and drinking, according to current medical wisdom. All things that are associated with our modern 21st century lifestyles.

However, the assumption that clogged arteries are a by-product of modern living has been shattered with news that many people in ancient Egypt also probably suffered from blocked up vessels.

This striking finding, which challenges current medical understanding of why clogged arteries occur, resulted from scans performed on the remains of Egyptian mummies up to 3,500 years old.

An international research team used an advanced scanning machine from Siemens Healthcare, called a SOMATOM Emotion computed tomography scanner, to examine the ancient remains.

Study

A team of cardiologists examined 20 mummies from the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo, and two previously scanned mummies were included in the analysis.

The doctors, who worked with a team of Egyptian archaeologists, wanted to find out whether people living in antiquity had healthier blood vessels than we do today.

The answer was surprising - it showed that the ancient mummies had much the same problems with clogged arteries as many people have today.

It was crucial that the mummies were not damaged during the scientific examination, and, this was made possible with the support of Siemens technical personnel who were available on site.

In people today, fats, or lipids, often accumulate in arterial vessels, leading to a blockage of the blood flow, which in turn can lead to heart attacks, or strokes.

The researchers were surprised to find that nine of the 16 mummies in which they were able to identify blood vessels had calcium deposits in their artery walls. This suggested arterial clogging.

This was seen in both ancient men and women. The mummified people, which lived between 1,570BC and the year 364, were not poor and all enjoyed elevated social status.

Conclusions

"The mummies have portions of the cardiovascular system intact, which were clearly recognizable," said Dr Randall Thompson, Professor of Medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine.

"On these CT scans, the atherosclerosis looks just like it does in my modern-day patients. The technology allowed us to discover that this disease has afflicted humans since before the time of Moses and is giving us insights into modern human health. We are able to achieve these insights without disturbing the remains of these people who walked the Earth such a long time ago."

"While we do not know whether atherosclerosis caused the demise of any of the mummies in the study, we can confirm that the disease was present in many. It obviously was rather common in ancient Egyptians of high socioeconomic status living as much as 3,500 years ago. The findings suggest that we may have to look beyond modern risk factors to fully understand the disease."