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Innovative research reveals that heart disease was more prevalent in primitive humans than expected
HOUSTON – The ancient mummies provide valuable information about the lives of our ancestors and new research now shows that cholesterol and heart disease may have affected primitive societies as much as humans today. An analysis of mummified remains performed at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center reveals that the arteries of people living at the end of the century Chincorro Period were much more fouled than originally expected.
"I wanted to see if heart disease was a modern problem. This seems like a problem for a very long time, "said Dr. Mohammad Madjid, senior author and assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine, in a press release.
Previously, whenever researchers analyzed the hearts or arteries of mummified remains, a scanner was used. However, these analyzes only identify accumulated calcium, not cholesterol. This is what makes this study so innovative; Madjid and his team are the first researchers to use an imaging technique (near infrared spectroscopy) to detect cholesterol on ancient mummies.
"A catheter is placed on the sample and it sends signals. The signals bounce off the tissue and come back. You can tell the difference between different tissue components because each one has a unique molecular signature, such as a fingerprint, "says Madjid, explaining the imaging process.
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The analyzed samples were from the mummified arterial tissue of three men and two women, aged between 18 and 60 at the time of their death. As for the cause of death, three of the five seem to have died from pneumonia, kidney failure and an unknown cause. A majority (four out of five) of the mummies came from South America and one from the Middle East. It is thought that all five lived between 2000 BC. and 350-1000 A.D.
The arterial disease found in the samples is atherosclerosis, a consequence of the accumulation of cholesterol plaques in the arteries. Atherosclerosis impedes oxygen-rich blood circulation throughout the body and is known to cause heart attacks.
Atherosclerosis is associated with cholesterol accumulation during its early stages, while calcium accumulation is a hallmark of the disease during its latter stages. In this spirit, Madjd asserts that previous methods of analysis based solely on the identification of calcium accounted for only about half of the probable prevalence of the disease among ancient peoples.
With regard to the excessive accumulation of cholesterol plaques in people living at that time, the researchers listed factors such as smoke from homes, untreated viral and bacterial infections and bad genes.
It was also noted that plaque accumulation was present in samples that would have been collected from persons who died at a young age.
To move forward, Madjid wants to continue investigating ancient mummies to determine how prevalent heart disease was in primitive men.
"Non-invasive near-infrared spectroscopy is a promising technique for studying ancient mummies from different cultures to better understand the origins of atherosclerosis," the authors conclude.
The study is published in American Heart Journal.
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