This undated photo provided by Dr Michael I. Miyamoto shows the mummified remains of Djeher, who lived in the Ptolemaic Era （304-30 BCE）, entering a CT scanner tube set up outside of the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo.[Agencies]

    ORLANDO, Fla. – You can't blame this one on McDonald's: Researchers have found signs of heart disease in 3,500-year-old mummies.

    "We think of it as being caused by modern risk factors," such as fast food, smoking and a lack of exercise, but the findings show that these aren't the only reasons arteries clog, said Dr. Randall Thompson, a cardiologist at the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City.

    He and several other researchers used CT scans, a type of X-ray, on 22 mummies kept in the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo. The subjects were from 1981 B.C. to 334 A.D. Half were thought to be over 45 when they died, and average lifespan was under 50 back then.

    Sixteen mummies had heart and blood vessel tissue to analyze. Definite or probable hardening of the arteries was seen in nine.

    "We were struck by the similar appearance of vascular calcification in the mummies and our present-day patients," said another researcher, Dr. Michael Miyamoto of the University of California at San Diego. "Perhaps the development of atherosclerosis is a part of being human."

    One mummy had evidence of a possible heart attack but scientists don't know if it was fatal. Nor can they tell how much these people weighed - mummification dehydrates the body.

    Of those whose identities could be determined, all were of high social status, and many served in the court of the Pharaoh or as priests or priestesses.

    "Rich people ate meat, and they did salt meat, so maybe they had hypertension （high blood pressure）, but that's speculation," Thompson said.

    With modern diets, "we all sort of live in the Pharaoh's court," said another of the researchers, Dr. Samuel Wann of the Wisconsin Heart Hospital in Milwaukee.

    The oldest mummy with heart disease signs was Lady Rai, a nursemaid to Queen Ahmose Nefertari who died around 1530 B.C. - 200 years before King Tutankhamun.

    German imaging company Siemens AG, the National Bank of Egypt and the Mid-America Heart Institute paid for the work. Results are in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association and were reported Tuesday at an American Heart Association conference.

    不要责怪快餐：木乃伊有心脏病

    你不能责怪麦当劳：科学家发现在3500岁的木乃伊之中有心脏病的迹象。

    "我们认为心脏病是由于现代风险因素而引起的",如快餐，吸烟和缺乏运动，但调查结果显示，这些不是动脉阻塞的唯一原因，美国中部堪萨斯城心脏病学会心脏病专家兰德尔·汤普森博士说。

    他和一些研究人员利用一种X光射线CT扫描在开罗埃及国家文物馆保存的22具木乃伊。这些研究对象从公元前1981年至公元334,半数人被认死亡于45以上，平均寿命为50岁以下。

    在对16个木乃伊的心脏和血管组织进行分析中，发现9个有明确的或很可能血管硬化。

    "我们感到震惊的是木乃伊的血管钙化和我们今天的患者出现相似，"圣地亚哥的加州大学另一位研究者迈克尔·宫本博士说， "也许动脉硬化的发展是人类的一部分。"

    有一具木乃伊很可能是心脏病患者，但科学家不知道它是否是致命的。他们也不能断定这些人有多少重量-木乃伊身体脱水。

    那些身份可确定的，都是有很的高社会地位，许多是在法老宫廷担任神父或祭司。

    "富人吃肉，他们也吃咸肉，因此他们可能患有高血压（高血压）,但这是猜测，"汤普森说。

    凭借现代化的饮食，"我们都生活在各种法老宫廷生活方式中，"威斯康星州的密尔沃基心脏病医院另一名研究人员塞缪尔文恩博士说。

    患有心脏病的迹象，最古老的木乃伊是女王赫摩斯纳菲尔塔莉保姆莱女士，死于公元前1530年左右--图坦哈曼国王之前200年。

    德国西门子影像公司，埃及国家银行和美国中心脏学会赞助本研究工作。其结果在本周《美国医学协会学报》杂志出版，并于周二的美国心脏协会会议作报告。