Mummies. In this day in age, we think of them as dead Egyptians that are stored in really cool gold cases. Most people care about how the person has been mummified, but some scientists wanted to look deeper into the subject. Specifically, to find out how they died.
A Little Something You Should Know:
To be mummified, you were usually one who has a higher standing, for instance, Pharaoh of the King of the Egyptians, or a priest/priestess. The Egyptians consumed a hearty amount of beef, duck, and goose, which are foods that have plenty of protein, but full of saturated and trans fats. You cannot find out the diet of the mummy, but by what scientists know about the Egyptians 3,500 years ago, they ate those types of foods listed.
What the Scientists Found:
What scientists have found in a 3,500-year old mummy, is heart disease. Shocker, right? Most of you reading this are probably wondering, "What is the big deal about mummies having heart disease? People die from it everyday now this day in age." Which is exactly the point. Heart disease is a generally modern disease, which is why, this is a big deal. The main causes of heart diseases are smoking, unhealthy diets, or a sedentary lifestyle. For those of you how don't know what sedentary means, it means to have little or no exercise. Scientists first got into the subject of mummies having heart disease from when they went to the Egyptian National Museum in Cairo (the capital of Egypt) for a medical conference. They came upon a mummified Pharaoh who's description said that he had died from clogging of the arteries. Otherwise know as heart disease. As scientists looked deeper into the subject, they looked at mummies and in 16 of them, the found traces of blood vessels and cardiac tissue saying that the mummy, when alive, had heart disease. In four of the mummies, scientists could identify that the hearts had a disease.
How the Mummies Obtained the Heart Disease:
The reason why the mummies that did die from heart disease was due to the fact they consumed a hefty amount of cattle, geese, and duck. These are all filled with protein, but have saturated fats and trans fats.
In My Opinion:
This article was one of the most interesting things that I have ever come across. I usually would not care how the person who was mummified died, I would care about how you mummified the person who died. This makes you think deeper into the subject of mummification and how similar things were 3,500 to today. You can learn more about this article at:
http://www.livescience.com/history/091117-mummy-heart-disease.html
I found the picture at:
http://www.historyplace.com/specials/slideshows/mummies/mummies1.jpg
