- A cardiologist at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute and his research team from Cairo, Milwaukee, and Mission Viejo, Calif., have detected the hardening of the arteries in 3,500-year-old Egyptian mummies, indicating that heart disease is not just a condition found in modern humans.
The research is published in the 18 November issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Cardiologist Randall Thompson, and collaborating imaging experts, Egyptologists and preservationists, examined direct evidence collected using a Siemens six-slice computed X-ray tomography on 22 mummies in the Museum of Antiquities in Cairo, Egypt.
The mummies which are dated from 1981 B.C. to 364 A.D., all were of high social status, including priests and members of the pharaoh's household, the study report said.
Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is the disease that causes heart attacks and strokes, and is commonly associated with modern risk factors like obesity, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, stress and high-fat diets. Atherosclerosis often causes arteries to become calcified, and this change is readily apparent on CT scans.
Since the diet and lifestyles of ancient people are quite different from modern man, the investigators were surprised to find that atherosclerosis was so frequently seen, the report said, adding that sixteen mummies had identifiable arteries or hearts and of those, nine had calcification in the artery wall or path where the artery should have been.
Calcification was evenly discovered in male and female mummies, and more common in mummies thought to be 45 years or older at the time of death. It is thought that diet included grain, game, domesticated animals, and fish. Salt was often used for preservation.
"While the presence of calcification does not demonstrate that atherosclerosis was a common cause of disease or death, it does provide evidence that humans in ancient times had the genetic predisposition and environment to promote the development of atherosclerosis," said Dr Thompson. "This study may begin to shed light on the relative importance of modern risk factors in causing hardening of the arteries. We all may be at risk for atherosclerosis, but it should be emphasized there is much we can do to minimise its extent and severity."
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
front page
| news
| countries
| archive
| currencies
| news alerts login
| about afrol News
| contact
| advertise
| español