Egyptian Mummies Reveal Heart Disease

Photo via APCT scans of Egyptian mummies, including Lady Rai, who had been a nursemaid to Queen Ahmose Nefertiti, show that atherosclerosis — characterized by calcium in plaques and called “hardening of the arteries” — isn’t only a modern-day disease.

Among 16 of the 20 mummies scanned by Dr. Gregory Thomas, a cardiologist at UC Irvine, after he read about Pharoah Merenptah at the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo, 9 showed signs of atherosclerosis, arthritis and dental decay.

On the one hand, an argument can be made that artherosclerosis must be re-evaluated, given its historica precedents. On the other hand, the high social status mummies all ate a diet high in fatty meat from cattle, ducks and geese. A via Egyptian mummies show signs of heart disease LA Times