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Heart Disease Plagued the Ancient Egyptians

Posted by samzenpus on from the cheeseburgers-of-the-ancients dept.

mmmscience writes "CT scans of mummies have revealed that heart disease was also a common problem 3500 years ago. The scans show calcification of arterial pathways, a preserved sign of atherosclerosis, the heart disease caused by hardening arteries. Of the 16 mummies that had intact arteries, nine showed signs of significant calcification. Dr. Gregory Thomas, co-lead author on the study, stated, 'The findings suggest that we may have to look beyond modern risk factors to fully understand the disease.'"

12 comments

  1. huh? by 0kensai0 · · Score: 1

    Was it actually strange to find egyptian upperclass to have heart problems, giving that been upperclass they would have had a life of luxury where everythign would be done by slaves. Furthermore, its not like they had a great understanding of general health so I doubt they're the type for daily exercise routines and balanced diets.

    1. Re:huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was it actually strange to find egyptian upperclass to have heart problems, giving that been upperclass they would have had a life of luxury where everythign would be done by slaves.

      Furthermore, its not like they had a great understanding of general health so I doubt they're the type for daily exercise routines and balanced diets.

      You've obviously never read anything about Egyptian culture, or their history. You also clearly don't understand anything about modern people, class structure, or dietary differences between them. Either that, or you think we all live a life like the Pharaohs...

  2. All the hearts in the neighbourhood say by Volguus+Zildrohar · · Score: 1

    way oh way oh wayyyy oh waayy ohhhhhhh....

    Croak like an Egyptian.

    --
    When confronted with one problem, some think "I'll use recursion". Now they are confronted with one problem.
  3. Food propoganda. by tacarat · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Everybody knows that there were no such diseases before the modern industrial food complex started shoveling processed crap down our throats. Ancient Egyptians were practically immortal. I mean, everything you ate back then was organic, there was no fluoride in the water and the ozone layer was fully intact.

    --
    "Common sense will be the death of us all"
    1. Re:Food propoganda. by ground.zero.612 · · Score: 0

      Everybody knows that there were no such diseases before the modern industrial food complex started shoveling processed crap down our throats. Ancient Egyptians were practically immortal. I mean, everything you ate back then was organic, there was no fluoride in the water and the ozone layer was fully intact.

      Citation needed.

      --
      "Be prepared, son. That's my motto. Be prepared." --Joe Hallenbeck
    2. Re:Food propoganda. by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Everybody knows that there were no such diseases before the modern industrial food complex started shoveling processed crap down our throats. Ancient Egyptians were practically immortal. I mean, everything you ate back then was organic, there was no fluoride in the water and the ozone layer was fully intact.

      Just to inject a note of boring reality into your moderately-well-founded sarcastic diatribe, did you know that the Greenland icesheet includes layers that document (amongst other things) the development and expansion of the lead-mining industry in Europe. Under the Romans.
      Our pre-industrial ancestors were perfectly capable of shitting in their (and other people's) backyards. They were just less effective at it than we are.
      Actually - calling the Romans "pre-industrial" is just a bit on the cheeky side, isn't it. They did a lot of things on an industrial scale. I wonder how long it would take our squaddies to replicate Hadrian's wall?

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    3. Re:Food propoganda. by tacarat · · Score: 1

      That depends on if you went for a modern equivalent or a historically accurate reproduction. Once there were enough trained people, I'd imagine the time it'd take would be similar or faster, assuming everybody was appropriately motivated.

      Interesting info on the lead mining. It's not one of the more popular metals for historical topics.

      --
      "Common sense will be the death of us all"
    4. Re:Food propoganda. by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Interesting info on the lead mining. It's not one of the more popular metals for historical topics.

      Aye. But it's been important for a long time. Serious proposals have had it that lead (via drinking water sub-clinical poisoning) was largely responsible for the gibbon-like "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". Whether they're strictly correct, I'd doubt ; but they do make a good case for plumbosis having had an effect on families who could afford to live with plumbing.
      On the other hand ... how many legions would have died before even getting to barracks for training if they didn't have plumbing? What you lose on the swings, you gain on the roundabouts.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    5. Re:Food propoganda. by tacarat · · Score: 1

      Indoor plumbing, outdoor plumbing. It's just another reason to make the new recruits go out and dig a ditch ;)

      --
      "Common sense will be the death of us all"
    6. Re:Food propoganda. by Gaffod · · Score: 1

      Wow, you guys are really messing up my sarcasm detector. It would make sense out of context, maybe, but... What is this, I don't even?

      Is he complaining about the hippie attitude of "well gee, everyone was so much healthier back then before this evil technology thing"? Is that really relevant? As far as I understand the article is about assessing contribution of modern factors to heart disease. (Obviously they would get the combined effect of added modern risk factors minus effects of medicine) Maybe I'm confused, but I don't see any crystal-wearing vegan hippies around.

    7. Re:Food propoganda. by ground.zero.612 · · Score: 0

      Woosh!

      --
      "Be prepared, son. That's my motto. Be prepared." --Joe Hallenbeck
  4. hot dates by harvey+the+nerd · · Score: 1

    If one uses glycemic index as the smoking gun of atherosclerosis, the Egyptian diet was loaded with sugar and starch. Inflammation due to disease, rancid oils, and deficiencies in essential nutrients including some vitamins would be a factor.