科学60秒:古埃及公主木乃伊扫描出冠心病
来源：沪江听写酷
2011-08-14 10:00
Princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon enjoyed a ___1___ in what is now Luxor about 3,500 years ago. But she may not have been a happy princess towards the end. Two of her three main coronary arteries were calcified, a ___2___ of atherosclerosis. Someone in her situation today would have bypass surgery.
Scientists discovered her condition with a full-body CT scan of her mummified remains. The princess has thus become the oldest known case of coronary artery disease. Researchers presented their finding at the International Conference of Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging in Amsterdam. [A. H. Allam et al., "Atherosclerosis Was Common in Ancient Humans: Results of the Horus Study of Ancient Egyptian Mummies"]
The ancient Egyptian diet included fruit and vegetables, wheat and barley, small amounts of meat, and bread and beer. And Egyptians were active. Sounds like a ___3___ for a healthy heart. So why did the Princess die in her 40s?
The researchers suggest that she could have been genetically predisposed to heart problems. Or she may have eaten a richer diet than ___4___ did. She could have had inflammation from common parasitic diseases. Or there may be an as yet unknown cause of some cardiovascular pathology. The mummy scans show that heart disease, ___5___, may not be so modern after all.
【视听版科学小组荣誉出品】
Scientists discovered her condition with a full-body CT scan of her mummified remains. The princess has thus become the oldest known case of coronary artery disease. Researchers presented their finding at the International Conference of Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging in Amsterdam. [A. H. Allam et al., "Atherosclerosis Was Common in Ancient Humans: Results of the Horus Study of Ancient Egyptian Mummies"]
The ancient Egyptian diet included fruit and vegetables, wheat and barley, small amounts of meat, and bread and beer. And Egyptians were active. Sounds like a ___3___ for a healthy heart. So why did the Princess die in her 40s?
The researchers suggest that she could have been genetically predisposed to heart problems. Or she may have eaten a richer diet than ___4___ did. She could have had inflammation from common parasitic diseases. Or there may be an as yet unknown cause of some cardiovascular pathology. The mummy scans show that heart disease, ___5___, may not be so modern after all.
【视听版科学小组荣誉出品】
privileged lifestyle
marker
recipe
commoners
considered a result of our modern lifestyle
大约3500年前，雅赫摩斯-梅尔耶特-艾蒙公主在现名卢克索的地方生活，条件相当优越。然而艾蒙公主临终前却并不安乐，她的两根主要冠状动脉都出现了钙化，这是动脉硬化的标志。要是在现在像艾蒙公主这样地位显赫的人出现动脉硬化的话就可以做心脏搭桥手术了。
科学家对艾蒙公主的木乃伊进行了全身CT扫描后发现了公主的这一病症。至此，艾蒙公主成为迄今为止首例冠心病患者。研究人员在阿姆斯特丹举行的非侵入式心血管成像国际会议上发布了这一发现。
古埃及人的饮食包括果蔬、大麦小麦、少量肉类、面包还有啤酒，而且古埃及人相当活跃，貌似这个食谱对心脏健康很有益。那为什么艾蒙公主40多岁就香消玉殒了呢？
研究人员猜测艾蒙公主天生易患心脏病，或者她比常人吃的食物更丰盛，感染了常见寄生虫病炎症，又或者存在未知的心血管病致病病因。人们认为现代人的生活方式导致了心脏病的发生，单本次木乃伊扫描结果表明，心脏病并没那么现代。