It turns out that artherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, isn't an entirely modern condition. In fact, evidence published in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that, as long as 3,500 years ago, well-to-do Egyptians suffered from the disease.
Twenty mummies were analyzed last February using CT scans.
Of the 16 mummies in whom the researchers could clearly identify blood vessels, and whose hearts were left in their bodies during the mummification process, nine showed clear evidence of hardened arteries.
By analyzing the skeletal structures of the mummies, researchers determined that eight mummies lived to be older than 45. Of those, seven exhibited signs of artherosclerosis. In contrast, among the eight who died younger—few Egyptians lived past 40 in those days (King Tut died at age 18, for example)—only two exhibited signs of hardened arteries.
A picture of my cave
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