8 Mummy Finds Revealing Ancient Disease [View all]

[dipsydoodle]

Whether laid to rest in a simple grave or a grand tomb, the human body rarely survives the sweep of time. But in a few places where people deliberately mummified their dead, or the environmental conditions were right—very dry or wet—flesh and bone are preserved.

Today these remains, probed by modern CT scans, MRIs, and DNA tests, are offering intriguing insights into how people lived and died long ago.

A 2011 study of 52 mummies in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo showed that almost half had clogged arteries, the kind of condition that can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

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As it turns out, those ancient Egyptians weren't alone. Recent CT scans of 137 mummies from four different regions, spanning more than 4,000 years, revealed that one-third had clogged arteries.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130321-mummies-diseases-ancient-archaeology-science