{"id":26208,"date":"2019-10-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/mummies-didnt-eat-fast-food-but-their-ancient-arteries-hid-high-cholesterol\/"},"modified":"2020-01-06T19:22:31","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T19:22:31","slug":"mummies-didnt-eat-fast-food-but-their-ancient-arteries-hid-high-cholesterol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/mummies-didnt-eat-fast-food-but-their-ancient-arteries-hid-high-cholesterol\/","title":{"rendered":"Mummies didn’t eat fast food, but their ancient arteries hid high cholesterol"},"content":{"rendered":"
Clogged arteries didn\u2019t originate in the era of fast food after all, according to a new technique used to examine mummies.<\/p>\n
A study appearing this month in the American Heart Journal<\/a> revealed that\u00a0our ancestors suffered from unhealthy levels of cholesterol similar to modern humans.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were wondering if this is a disease of modern age or not. I\u2019ve had that question since medical school,\u201d said Mohammad Madjid, M.D., M.S.<\/a>, the study\u2019s lead author and an assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine with McGovern Medical School\u00a0<\/a>at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)<\/a>. \u201cWe know atherosclerosis starts very early, from the teen years or even earlier. By the age of 18, 20, many people will form plaques in their arteries. We have seen this in our modern-day studies. But then we look at our ancient ancestors and my study found that actually the majority of adults at that time had very similar amounts of cholesterol in their arteries, so it\u2019s not a disease confined to our current day.\u201d<\/p>\n Researchers used a technique called near-infrared spectroscopy to examine arterial tissue from preserved corpses. The samples came from five individuals who lived between 2000 B.C. to approximately 1000 A.D. The three men and two women ranged in age from 18 to 60. Four lived in South America and the fifth resided in the Middle East.<\/p>\n In the past, researchers have used computerized tomography (CT) scans to study the hearts and arteries of ancient remains, but this is the first time a team has employed near-infrared spectroscopy to examine mummies. Madjid, who is also affiliated with UT Physicians<\/a> and the Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute\u2013Texas Medical Center<\/a>, noted that while CT scans can show calcification of arteries, they cannot detect levels of cholesterol. Near-infrared spectroscopy can. The technique, Madjid explained, employs a catheter to send signals to the mummified tissue which return unique molecular signatures that signify the presence of different components inside the arteries.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery component, like water, fat, cholesterol or bone\u2014they each have different molecular signatures, like a fingerprint,\u201d Madjid said. \u201cThe technique is widely used in medicine and industry and we know how cholesterol looks. … It is non-destructive and non-damaging to the tissues, which is very important if you want to work with mummies.\u201d<\/p>\n