Egyptian mummies showed clear signs of fatty buildup in their arteries.
In 2008, Greg Thomas, a cardiologist from California, was in Cairo for work. While there, he visited the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities with another cardiologist, Adel Allam of Al Azhar University in Cairo. They came across the mummy of King Merneptah, a pharaoh who lived 3,200 years ago. The description on Merneptah's case said he had suffered from atherosclerosis, the buildup of plaque on artery walls. Both men were sure this must be wrong. How could an ancient Egyptian have had heart disease, when most of the risk factors for the disease - obesity, unhealthy diet, smoking and lack of exercise - did not then exist? But could they prove it?
Thomas, medical director of the MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute in Long Beach, California and Allam discussed how they could find out more about Merneptah's arteries. They theorised that any arterial plaques might still be visible on a CT scan, a computerised x-ray technology that produces 3D images. Plaques contain calcium, which degrades slowly - a key reason that bones endure for so long.
After months of negotiation with officials, the pair began scanning the museum's mummies (ironically, Merneptah was excluded, as Egyptian archaeological officials ruled that royal mummies could not be part of the project). What they found surprised them: many showed clear signs of fatty buildup in their arteries.
When the results are adjusted for age (pre-modern people had shorter life-spans, so most of the remains are of people who died in their 40s or younger), the rate of atherosclerosis was about the same as it is for people in modern society, around 40%.Until then, most researchers had believed that atherosclerosis was largely caused by modern lifestyles. The solution had seemed clear: if we moved more, ate more vegetables and fewer doughnuts, and quit smoking, we would significantly reduce the buildup of the plaques that are a key cause of heart disease.
Comment: Chronic infection is the most likely explanation for "modern" chronic diseases. We all are infected by a host of germs (bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses). Mainstream medicine hasn't caught up with that train of thought much yet. Remember how long it took to accept that stomach ulcers were caused by the infectious agent
Helicobacter pylori?
For an in depth review of the current state of science, coupled with evolutionary thoughts, see this excellent book by Paul Ewald:
Plague Time: The New Germ Theory of Disease.
Comment: Turning classrooms into labs: ADHD diagnosis and the drugging of kids