http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aU2amfwygma0...Atherosclerosis, a condition in which fatty substances build up in the lining of the arteries, can be caused by smoking, high cholesterol diets and lack of exercise, according to the Dallas-based heart association Web site. The findings challenge the notion that atherosclerosis is a disease of modern humans brought on by modern bad habits, researchers said.
“Heart disease is as old as Moses,” said Randall Thompson, a cardiologist at the Mid America Heart Institute of Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri and one of the study’s researchers, in an interview. “Even though their lifestyles were healthier -- no processed foods, no smoking and they got more exercise -- many still contracted the disease showing a certain genetic susceptibility.”
The team worked with mummies housed in the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo and were not given access to the remains of the pharaohs themselves, Thompson said. Those who died after the age of 45 were more likely to show hardening, with calcification in 7 of 8 tested, the JAMA letter reported. Two out of 8 under 45 at the age of death showed atherosclerosis, it said.
Lady Rai was somewhere between 30 and 40 when she died, according to the letter. She died in about 1530 B.C. and was the most ancient mummy tested with signs of the disease, the letter said. Four out of 7 female mummies and 5 out of 9 male mummies tested positively.
“The calcification lights up like a Christmas tree in the CAT scans,” Thompson said. “I use these facts to help people get past the questions about 'why me?' and the denial. Clearly it is part of the human condition.”
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