News Health & Medicine

Mummies reveal hardened arteries

Something modern Egyptians, pharaohs, native Peruvians and a Renaissance-era king shared: heart disease

UNWRAPPED  Studies of mummies from around the world (an ancient Egyptian mummy undergoing a CT scan shown) reveal that hardening of the arteries has been a problem for more than 5,000 years. 

4C/PFO from R.C. Thompson et al/Global Heart 2014

By Tina Hesman Saey

- More than 2 years ago

Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is usually thought of as a modern disease brought on by fatty diets, smoking and lack of exercise.