Ancient Egyptians suffered from artery hardening: study

Orlando, Florida: CT scans of Egyptian mummies show evidence of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, normally thought of as a modern disease caused by lifestyle, researchers said on Tuesday.

Some of the mummies date back as far as 3,500 years.

"Atherosclerosis is ubiquitous among modern-day humans and, despite differences in ancient and modern lifestyles, we found that it was rather common in ancient Egyptians of high socioeconomic status," said co-author Dr Gregory Thomas, a cardiologist at the University of California, Irvine.

"The findings suggest that we may have to look beyond modern risk factors to fully understand the disease."

"Perhaps atherosclerosis is part of being human, as we are observing the footprint of the same disease process in people who lived thousands of years ago," said co-author Dr Michael I. Miyamoto, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

"The possibility that humans throughout time might share the same predisposition to the development of certain afflictions was poignantly illustrated to us," he said.

The study, presented at the American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, Florida, was conceived by Thomas after he read the nameplate of Pharoah Merenptah in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo.

The nameplate says that, when he died at age 60 in 1203 BC, Merenptah was plagued by atherosclerosis, arthritis and dental decay.

Because atherosclerosis is characterised by calcium in plaques, Thomas reasoned that some evidence of the disease might still be present. He organised a team of cardiologists and Egyptologists to scan 20 mummies in the Egyptian Museum during the week of February 8, 2009.

Among the 16 mummies with identifiable arteries or hearts, nine had calcification clearly seen in the arteries or in the path where the arteries should have been. The disease clearly was age-related. Seven of the eight who were older than 45 when they died had calcification, compared with two of eight who were younger than 45. Men and women were affected equally.

The most ancient of the mummies afflicted with atherosclerosis was Lady Rai, who had been a nursemaid to Queen Ahmose Nefertiti. She died between age 30 and 40 around 1530 BC, about 300 years before the time of Moses and 200 years before King Tut.