Some Egyptians Who Died and Were Mummified Had Heart Disease, Just Like Us in the Year 2009.

Too long, huh?

Researchers don’t only research current issues, such as finding cures for cancer or ways to make body parts regrow, they also look back in an attempt to understand what happened in earlier times.

In this particular study, researchers were looking for signs of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, in mummies. We tend to think of heart disease as a modern problem, but the earlier discovery of the Pharaoh Merenptah (c. 1213-1203 BC), who was 60 years old at his death, having had atherosclerosis, arthritis and dental decay led researchers to study other mummies to see if this was common.

The results of their study will appear tomorrow in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

According to a co-principal investigator, UC Irvine clinical professor of cardiology Dr. Gregory Thomas, although atherosclerosis is everywhere around us these days, it was also quite common in the years BC, despite major differences in lifestyle.

It seems that the higher classes in ancient Egypt had just as high a risk as we do now. This means that there may be problems that we blame on modern times, but that may actually have their roots in other things.

For this study, researchers studied 20 mummies that were at the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. These mummies were subjected to computed tomography scanning (CT scans) so researchers could see inside the bodies.

The researchers were looking for changes in the cardiovascular system. They were able to detect arteries or hearts in 16 of the mummies. Of those 16, the researchers found that nine had either the beginning of hardening of the arteries (or something similar) or worse.

Some of the study findings included:

Of the mummies who had died when they were older than 45, 7 of 8 had calcification and thus atherosclerosis while only 2 of 8 of those dying at an earlier age had calcification. Atherosclerosis did not spare women; vascular calcifications were observed in both male and female mummies.

The study included Lady Rai, who died sometime in her thirties. She was nursemaid to Queen Ahmose Nefertiri. To put this in context, Lady Rai lived about 300 years prior to the time of Moses and 200 prior to King Tutankhamun (Tut).

Eating a high fat diet, with a lot of red meat, is considered a high risk factor for heart disease in today’s society. And, while they may not have eaten a lot of red meat in the ancient Egyptian times, researchers do know that the higher status Egyptians did eat significant amounts of ducks and geese, as well as beef.

Of course, we can’t tell if the atherosclerosis was the cause of death among these mummies, but the fact that it existed shows us that there is still a lot to learn about the disease.

~~~

Image: PhotoXpress.com

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Would you go as far as Stubbins Ffirth, a 19th century doctor who smeared himself with vomit and other bodily fluids from yellow-fever suffers to prove it wasn’t a contagious disease?

Or tape a sample of radium salts to your arm for 10 hours as Pierre Cuire did in his desire to find out how radiation might help in the treatment of cancer?

Probably not.

Read more about these and other extraordinary scientists who put their lives on the line for the sake of knowledge at New Scientist’s fascinating (and somewhat gross) article Eight scientists who became their own guinea pigs.

(image by Gaetan Lee)

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Hence the Healthbolt Op-Ed – a place where readers can express their thoughts and opinions on interesting and entertaining health related topics.

Today, we’ve got Holly McCarthy ruminating on an interesting and, to most westerners, a somewhat bizarre form of treatment - urine therapy.

Since early times, healers have believed that urine has many curative and preventative properties. The Romans thought it helped whiten teeth, the Chinese thought that wiping babies faces with it helped protect the skin, and the French believed it help add in curing Strep throat.

And of course, let’s not forget the benefits of urine on jellyfish stings (I’m sure all Friends fans will remember that hysterical episode).

But let’s face it, using urine as a therapy just makes most of us cringe.  

Here’s what Holly thinks…

Is a Glass of Urine Your Cup of Tea?

by Holly McCarthy

It’s hard to fathom the ideas that people come up with in an attempt to gain better health or rid themselves of ailments that seem incurable through conventional means. The wackiest (and most disgusting) one I’ve come across is that drinking your own urine has various health benefits. Some swear that it’s beneficial for the skin while others go off the deep end and announce that it’s the only cure there is for AIDS.

Some advocates of this so-called urine therapy try to offer scientific explanations to back their claims – since urine is one of the body fluids tested to determine the presence of any disease, they believe that by drinking your own urine, you’re automatically immunizing yourself from the strains of any disease that are found in your urine. Call it a stink-raising form of vaccination if you will!

Ok, a quick question to those who firmly believe that urine is good for health – how do you bear the stench that’s a part and parcel of anyone’s urine? And if it’s good as an immunization measure, would you be willing to drink the urine of other people who have had certain diseases that you don’t want to contract? How far does your tolerance level go?

I understand that it’s a matter of personal preference – to drink or not to drink, that is the question you need to ask yourself and answer honestly. But if you do intend to start this therapy, make sure that the habit stays in the closet. Because the moment it comes out, you’re never going to hear the end of the ribbing and disgust-laden comments that follow.

On the other hand though, if you want to play a great practical joke on your friends (or people you’re not too fond of), tell them you owe it to the power of urine therapy when they ask you the secret of your quick recovery from an illness or the reason behind your glowing skin and healthy look. Extol the virtues of this fluid and egg them on to try it, just once. Believe me, if not anything else, it’s a great way to get back at someone you’ve been itching to target!

Well, I have to wind up, because the call of nature beckons, but you can bet your last dollar that I’m definitely not putting anything that’s meant for the toilet bowl, in my mouth!

(This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of certifications for geriatric nursing. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com)

Got a health topic you’d like to op-ed on here at Healthbolt. Just send it through (kiwiwriter at xtra dot co dot nz). Healthbolt, however, does reserve the right not to post if it doesn’t fit the editorial requirements.

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Jersey City, NJ was the first US city to routinely chlorinate it’s municipal drinking water, followed by Chicago’s union stockyards and many, many more cities around the country. Today, pretty much all U.S. public water systems rely on chlorine in some form for safe drinking water

As a result, waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid are virtually eliminated.

But as this guest post by the Chairman of Water Quality & Health Council highlights, there are always cracks in the system…

The Waterborne Outbreak in Alamosa, Colorado
by Chris Wiant, M.P.H, Ph.D.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the first use of chlorination to help ensure safe drinking water supplies.  The most important stories related to this milestone are those that did not have to be written – the outbreaks of waterborne disease that did not occur and the health and economic costs that have been avoided.  Instead we are able to talk about increased life expectancy and improved quality of life achieved by providing clean drinking water.  However, the people of Alamosa, Colorado, were recently reminded that without disinfection, public drinking water supplies are still vulnerable to contamination, just as they were 100 years ago and continued vigilance is necessary to ensure protection. 

In early March 2008, the first cases of a Salmonella outbreak  were reported in Alamosa, a town of 10,000.  Through epidemiologic investigation, the water supply was soon suspected and later confirmed as the source of the outbreak. This was stunning news to many who believed that Alamosa’s water was safe from contamination.

The water supply for Alamosa is drawn from a deep well and maintained in a closed system.  This enabled Alamosa to receive a waiver from rules that would otherwise require disinfection of its drinking water supply.  So, although it was not treated with chlorine or other disinfectant, the water supply was in compliance with applicable drinking water regulations at the time of the outbreak.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) concluded that contamination likely took place in an underground storage facility that had cracks and was visibly leaking.  Despite the high quality of water coming from the ground, the storage/distribution system presented a risk that could have been eliminated through the use of disinfection, highlighting the need for multiple protective barriers to address potential contamination.  The storage facility was repaired and the entire distribution system was subsequently flushed with superchlorinated water.  The water supply is now chlorinated and monitoring was increased to ensure clean water is provided to customers.

The outbreak resulted in over 400 reported cases of illness.  It is speculated that many more people were ill but didn’t seek treatment or were unable to get treatment as the medical care system became overwhelmed.  The economic cost of the outbreak, including the associated response costs and loss of tourism, has not been calculated.

Although CDPHE and other responders were praised for their prompt ction, which most likely limited the extent of the outbreak, it is now clear that the vulnerable water system could have been protected through the use of a proven and cost effective disinfection method.  100 years after chlorine was first used to help provide safe drinking water, the Alamosa outbreak serves as an important reminder of the value of disinfection in protecting public health. 

(Chris Wiant is President and CEO of Caring for Colorado Foundation in Denver Colorado and chairman of the Water Quality & Health Council.)

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Pay patients to go to the doctor? – in England, Health Service Managers are looking at ways to get people in unhealthy people in the lower social economic rankings to visit the doctor. The thinking is that if you can get people to the doctor earlier, before chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease set in, the government health system would save money. It makes sort of makes sense. But the idea is getting flack from politicans and medical experts alike who say that the government shouldn’t be bribing people to stay healthy.

‘World’s Fattest Man’ to Marry After Massive Diet – after two years of dieting, Manuel Uribe, the world’s heaviest man and his girlfriend are set to wed this month. Originally weighing in a couple of years ago at 1,235 pounds, the 43 year old Manual has shed around 700 pounds.

Something of a celebrity, Manual has been giving telephone advice to Jose Luis Garza, another determined dieter who weighs in at around 990 pounds.

Discover the surgical tools of Ancient Rome at the Historical Collections & Services of the Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia. Excavated from the House of the Surgeon at Pompeii, looking at this collection of instruments makes you realize how far medical science has come (and how lucky we are that it has advanced so far).

As for the bizarre, how about this cookbook by a Russian chef called ‘Cooking with Balls’. Featuring testicle pizza, battered testicles and barbecued testicles with giblets recipes made from the sex organs of ostriches, bulls, pigs, turkeys and stallions, this e-book is definitely ‘one of a kind’ and not for the faint hearted.

And that’s it for this week’s Monday Sidebar…

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So if you’re on the road this summer and don’t mind a little ’shock and gore’, stop by a medical museum or two. You’ll be amazed (and relieved) by how far the practice of medicine has come.

Here’s four medical museums definitely worth visiting:

The Mutter Museum in Philadelphia was orginally established as a place for trainee doctors to go and learn about anatomy and human anomalies. It’s those anomalies – such as the preserved body of the ‘Soap Lady’ and a cancerous growth removed from President Grover Cleveland – that now draw the public to it’s doors.

The Glore Psychiatric Museum is housed in former ‘State Lunatic Asylum No. 2′ building in St Joseph, Missouri,. From medical artifacts such as a tranquilizing chair and a dousing tank to exhibits featuring the ‘1,446 Objects Swallowed by a Patient’ and the ‘television diary’, this museum will leave you speechlss, spellbound, and mighty relieved that the days of such barbaric medical treatment is well and truly over.

The International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago offers a diverse collection of surgical memoriabilia and artefacts from the around the world. Spread out over four floors, the exhibits include early 20th century X-Ray machines, trephining (skull drilling) instruments and an iron lung. The museum’s newest exhibit, Beyond Broken Bones, looks at the history (from the ancient Egyptians to modern day) of orthopedics and prothestics.

The National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington D.C. is a goldmine for American history buffs. Here you can see not only the bullet that killed Abraham Lincoln but also the probe used to locate the bullet and the blood stained shirt cuff of the surgeon who attended Lincoln’s autopsy. Other permanent displayss include ‘Medicine During the Civil War’ and ‘Battlefield Surgery 101.’

Know of any Medical Museums to add to the list ?

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This guy in France has created renewed debate about when is a person really dead. Seems that his heart stopped for an hour and a half, giving doctors cause to believe he was dead. But just before they started the prep to remove his organs for transplants, his breathing and heartbeat resumed and he began regaining consciousness.

Going Bald for Charity Can Cause Loss of Job

A kind hearted waitress recently discovered that doing a good deed doesn’t always pay. Wanting to raise money for a cancer research charity, Stacey Fearnall donated her hair. But her boss isn’t keen on having bald service people, so has told her not to come back to work until her hair grows back (or she wears a wig).

The Real Bionic Woman

A 49 year old woman who suffers from severe rheumatoid arthritis is close to becoming a bionic woman. Over the past twenty years, most her joints have been replaced. In fact, the only ones left that she can truly call her own are the right elbow and left hip. And the left hip is due to go soon…

Pregnant Man Soon to Give Birth

In less than four weeks, medical history will be made with the first pregnant man giving birth and he’s celebrating with an interview and pictures with the British News of the World newspaper.

And finally…

Meet the ‘potty whisperer’

Meet the ‘Potty Whisperer’

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Source: Dr. Bonkers presents
The Nearly Genuine and Truly Marvelous
Psychoneuropharmacological Mental Medicine Show

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Even the medics couldn’t see the paintbrush. All that was evident at the time was a 5 cm cut below his left eye. But a CT scan painted a fuller picture, showing a cylindrical foreign body positioned from the left orbit to the right thalamus. Everyone assumed it was a piece of wood. Imagine the surgeon’s surprise when it turned out to be a paintbrush. And prehaps more amazing was that the patient suffered no neurological symptoms or side effects.

If you want to see what the CT looked like head over to .Street Anatomy for a collection of CT images.

But a paintbrush is not the oddest object to be found in the head. Neurophilosophy has an interesting post that reveals some more unusual penetrating brain injuries.

And then there’s Phineas Gage, a 19th century railway worker who survived having a meter long iron rod shot through his head. He became a both a medical curiosity and the means by which doctors were able to study the effects of damage to the brain. These days, Phineas Gage’s skull sits on display at The Warren Anatomical Musuem at Harvard Medical School where it is still the topic of much discussion.

It’s a fascinating story that you can listen to over at BBC Case Study.

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Death and dealing with the dead might seem like a morbid topic but apparently it’s also a very popular one. After all, how many of you were hooked on Six Feet Under?

Top 10 Weird Ways We Deal with the Dead.

This is a fascinating list of what happened to the dead throughout history. From ‘towers of silence’ and ‘tree burials’ to ‘plascination’ and ‘cyronics’, humankind has always looked at different ways to bury the dead and honor the spirits.

A New Twist to the Burial at Sea

Forget about six feet under. The Neptune Memorial Reef is offering a much more deeper burial option. Located in open waters just off the coast of Key Biscayne, this reef is being marketed as the perfect final resting place for those who loved the sea. A relatively new development, the artifical reef’s first phase has room for only 850 remains. But the company is planning on the concept growing with the reef one day covering 16 acres and room enough for 125,000 remains. A person’s ashes are mixed with cement and fitted into a mold which is then taken by a diver in the memorial area and secured onto the reef. A copper and bronze plaque is installed with the person’s name, date of birth and death.

Museums

Turns out there are even museums that focus solely on the dead and the mortuary business…

National Museum of Funeral History in Houston, Texas is where you can learn about Civil War embalming practices and check out fantasy coffins. The museum itself is housed in a reproduction of an early 1900’s coffin factory. There’s even a funeral industry Hall of Fame.

Museum of Mourning Art at Arlington Cemetery in a replicia of Mount Vernon, explores grief and mourning throughout history.

Museum of Funeral Customs in Springfield, Illinios focuses on the history of American funeral and mourning customs.

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