Unit 27 Curse of Heart Disease Is Found in MummiesResearchers said they found evidence of hardening of the arteries in Egyptian mummies dating as far back as 3,500 years,challenging longstanding assumptions that cardiovascular disease is mainly a malady of modern societies.A team of heart-imaging experts and Egyptologists examined 22 mummies from the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo in a CT scanning machine,looking for evidence of calcium buildup that could indicate vascular disease.They were able to identify the hearts, arteries or both in 16 of the mummies, nine of whom had deposits of ca1cification.An analysis determined the deposits were either definite or probab1e evidence of atherosclerosis，the condition that leads to heart attacks and strokes.Not only do we have atherosclerosis now, it was preva1ent as long as 3,500 years ago," said Gregory Thomas,a cardiologist and imaging specia1ist at University of Ca1ifomia, Irvine, who was principal investigator of the study.It is part of the human condition.The research was presented Tuesday at the American Heart Association scientific meeting here.A report is a1so schedu1ed to appear in Wednesday's issue of the Journa1 of the American Medical Association.
