The Burden of Arteriosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in Ancient Populations

Insights from Mummified Remains

Nerlich A.G., Galassi, F.M. and Bianucci R. (2020) The Burden of Arteriosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in Ancient Population. In: Shin D.H., Bianucci R. (eds) The Handbook of Mummy Studies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3354-9_44

Abstract

Arteriosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are chronic inflammatory afflictions of the vascular system leading to stiffening and occlusion of the arterial vessels. The particular involvement of the coronary and carotid arteries may result in lethal ischemia of the heart or brain. Therefore, they represent the most frequent cause of death in the twenty-first century. Recent circumstantial analyses have shown that the prevalence of arteriosclerosis was also very high in human remains in various ancient populations, including ancient Egypt, Peru, and hunter-gatherer populations. Thereby, the typical features of atheromatosis, fibro- sis, and vascular calcification have been identified by histology and even more frequently by radiological techniques (X-rays, Multidetector computed tomogra- phy) in mummies from all over the world. This sheds new light on the pathoge- netic causes of CVDs. Genetic predisposition and chronic, local, and systemic inflammation seem to have more influence on the genesis of arteriosclerosis than the typical present-day risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipid- emia, and other metabolic disorders. The investigation of mummy tissue by various approaches will hopefully enlarge our understanding of the pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis.