Abstract
This case series examines 4 Greenlandic Inuit mummies from approximately the 16th century for evidence of atherosclerosis.
Highlights
Atherosclerosis is often thought of as unique to modern Homo sapiens, the product of our contemporary diet, lifestyle, and environment superimposed on primordial susceptibility
Five Inuit mummies curated at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, were studied at the Heart and Vascular Center of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Permission to perform imaging was granted by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
Summary
Atherosclerosis is often thought of as unique to modern Homo sapiens, the product of our contemporary diet, lifestyle, and environment superimposed on primordial susceptibility. The HORUS Study Group has found that atherosclerosis existed at least as far back as 4000 BCE.[1] Arterial calcification has been found in 34 of 137 mummified remains from 3 continents across wide variations in lifestyle and heritage, including in hunter-gatherer populations.[1,2] None of these individuals consumed a primarily marine-based diet rich in ω-3 fatty acids. Danish researchers[3] hypothesized that high intake of marine animals rich in fish oil containing ω-3 fatty acids protected native Greenlandic Inuit peoples from atherosclerosis. To better understand the early history of human atherosclerosis, we performed a case series study of Inuit hunter-gatherer people living 500 years ago who consumed a marine-based diet
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