Heart Disease in Ancient Egypt

While life in post-industrial society has  introduced all manner of dietary and lifestyle changes (and as a result, diseases) to bear on the modern human condition, we may need to rethink our tendency to characterize coronary disease as being uniquely or primarily a contemporary health problem.

The Wall Street Journal reports that through the application of cutting-edge imaging technology, archaeologists and Egyptologists have found evidence for arterial hardening and calcium deposition in 16 of the 22 mummies that were investigated. The data suggest that arteriosclerosis is not only something that has been a health concern for far longer than we had previously thought, but that it may have been pervasive in ancient Egypt.

Or, perhaps, it was pervasive among the segment of ancient Egyptian society whose wealth allowed a more indulgent diet and lifestyle. The Journal notes both that the wealthy classes were more likely to eat more animal protein, and that the unavailability of refrigeration required perishable foods such as meat to be cured with salt, suggesting that blood pressure problems could have been in the mix as well.

Perhaps the pharaohs and families just needed a good, easy-to-understand-and-follow food pyramid.

The fascinating findings were inspired by a visit to Egypt almost two years ago by University of California Irvine cardiologist Gregory Thomas. The Journal reports that Thomas, along with some peers, was taken aback by museum signage for the mummy of Pharaoh Merenptah (ruler from 1213 to 1203 BC) that stated "that when the pharaoh died at about age 60, he had atherosclerosis, arthritis and dental decay."

Thomas and peers were astonished to the point of being spurred into investigative action, leading less than two years later to these remarkable findings.

Photo courtesy of Cyberjunkie, via Wikimedia Commons