Heart disease and afflictions such as obesity are often viewed as a product of modern culture. People today are thought to consume significantly more calories and animal fat than their ancestors, turning our fat-storing adaptation into a contributing factor for obesity.
However, recent discoveries suggest that heart attacks and strokes have plagued humans for millennia.
A team of scientists led by Greg Thomas recently discovered the earliest known case of atherosclerosis in an Egyptian mummy. Also known as heart disease, this condition occurs when fatty material collects on the artery wall.
Over time, the material thickens and hardens, potentially resulting in arterial blockage. These findings reveal that the current understanding of heart disease is somewhat misconceived.
According to Thomas, the research team arrived at these conclusions by running mummies through a CT scanner. They hypothesized that the mummies would not have heart disease due to their more active lifestyle, healthier diet and lack of tobacco use. To their surprise, one of the mummies scanned, a princess in her forties who was supposedly active and ate fresh food, was found to have heart disease.
Based on these results, Thomas suggests that there may be an unknown risk factor at play. As of now, high blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol and inactivity are among the known risk factors for atherosclerosis. While ancient Egyptians had access to meat, Thomas says that their diet consisted mostly of grains, fruits and vegetables.
All of the subjects studied were of the elite class, as these people had the resources and wealth to have their bodies mummified. While Egyptian royalty practiced inbreeding, the high incidence of heart disease probably did not result from this, according to Thomas. As the team found incidences of heart disease across a 2,000-year timeframe, they believe that it was a common affliction among the elite.
The researchers have yet to extend their studies to include working-class mummies, but they believe that they will find incidences of heart disease even among the middle class.
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