An intelligent summary of some of the results of the work being done at the Cairo Museum where researchers have been using CT scans to find out more about the health of ancient Egyptians.
If you have been given the unwelcome news that you or a loved one has heart disease, don't blame fast foods. Cardiovascular disease does not come with modern living but is a genetic syndrome and has been with us since the Pharaohs.
Heart disease is the world's leading killer, and its increase in the past few years has been put down to recent changes in living styles. For some time the growing frequency of the disease has often been attributed to urbanisation, smoking, fast food and an idle lifestyle, but now this theory is being challenged by the results of CT scans and studies carried out by a team of scientists, cardiologists and archaeologists on 20 ancient Egyptian mummies.
The studies being conducted at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, Cairo, are revealing that cardiovascular disease and arteriosclerosis are genetic ailments and have been around since the Pharaohs. They point to the lifestyle characteristic of our modern times being not guilty of the original cause of the problem. However, it appears that lifestyle has affected certain aspects of the growth and increase of disease.
The story of the scientific discovery began in 2008 when Adel Allam, co-investigator of the study, and Gregory Thomas, a cardiologist and imaging specialist at California University, made a visit to the Egyptian Museum, and admired the nameplate on the mummy of the 19th-Dynasty Pharaoh Merenptah (1211-1201 BC). This mentioned that Merenptah died at approximately 60 years of age and was afflicted with arteriosclerosis, arthritis and dental decay.
This piece of information triggered the curiosity of both scientists, who asked in astonishment how this could possibly be.
1 comment:
Not only ancient Egyptians! The older iceman http://www.iceman.it also suffered from CVD. It seems the condition is ubiquituous.
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