Heart Disease Discovered in Mummies

November 20, 2009

A team of US and Egyptian cardiologists have published a study in the

Journal of the American Medical Associationon their discovery of heart

disease in ancient mummies housed at the Egyptian National Museum of

Antiquities.

22 mummies were treated to CAT scans to determine how many of them

showed signs of heart disease. While the heart could only be identified

in 4 mummies, and cardiac tissue or blood vessels in only 16 of the

mummies, scientists discovered heart disease in five mummies, including

Lady Rai, who served in the court of Queen Ahmose Nefertiti about 3500

years ago.

Gregory Thomas, one of the study's authors, says, " The findings suggest

that we may have to look beyond modern risk factors to fully understand

the disease. "

However, Michael Miyamoto, a cardiologist involved in the study, says,

" it should be noted that in general, the individuals who had the means

to be mummified were generally of higher socioeconomic status. So it may

be that some of them in life maintained some of these lifestyle factors

that we think of as linked with atherosclerosis. "

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