Heart Disease: Pharaohs Had It, Too

'Part of the human condition,' so fast food not only culprit

By Will McCahill, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 17, 2009 7:20 PM CST

Copied

Heart Disease: Pharaohs Had It, Too — A mummy enters a CT scanner tube set up outside of the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo. (AP Photo)

In a finding that pokes holes in the thinking that our modern fast-food lifestyle is behind heart disease, scientists have discovered that Egypt’s mummies, too, had hardened arteries. “Atherosclerosis is not just a disease of modern times,” one researcher tells WebMD. “It’s part of the human condition.” CT scans found some evidence of hardening in nine of 16 mummies; one skeptic notes that only the upper classes—more likely to eat a rich diet—could be mummified.
(Read more atherosclerosis stories.)