U.S. News & World Report: Mummies Study Finds Heart Disease Plagued the Ancients, Too

 1 minute

Folks typically think of heart disease as a byproduct of modern fast-food living, but a new study shows the condition has plagued humanity for centuries.

More than a third (37%) of 237 adult mummies from seven different cultures spanning more than 4,000 years had evidence of clogged arteries, CT scans revealed.

Researchers say the results show that humans have an innate risk of atherosclerosis -- a build-up of plaque in the arteries that can lead to heart attack and stroke.

“We found atherosclerosis in all time periods -- dating before 2,500 BCE -- in both men and women, in all seven cultures that were studied, and in both elites and non-elites,” said lead researcher Dr. Randall Thompson, a cardiologist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo. “This further supports our previous observation that it is not just a modern condition caused by our modern lifestyles.”

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