In the journal, “Global Heart”, researchers analyzed mummies all over the world and were shocked to find that they showed signs of atherosclerosis, which is the hardening of arteries. Almost 38% of the mummies showed this affliction. Scientists are not entirely sure what caused this. One possibility is the unhealthy diets of these people who were preserved. In addition, these were probably the elite meaning they did not get as much exercise, leading to greater strain on the heart. Scientists also bring up the fact that the main reason for atherosclerosis was their genetics. One mummy in particular had genetic variations that drastically increased their chance of acquiring heart disease. However scientists do not fully blame genetics for this. They also took into consideration other environmental factors such as inhaling smoke from fires. In addition, stress was also one of the problems that individuals back then faced. Life was not as easy, and the constant stress paired with other factors could’ve been the cause of heart disease.
This is a very insightful article as people might not know that mummies can actually be very helpful when it comes to genetics and learning about evolution. Many people assume that mummies are just meant to be observed, however analyzing them provides a lot of insight on how life was thousands of years ago. In this case, heart disease is extremely widespread these days. Learning more about how people had it in the past might help researchers and healthcare providers in today’s world, fight the problem.
Links: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mummies-reveal-hardened-arteries.
https://globalheartjournal.com/articles/10.1016/j.gheart.2014.04.002
