Argumentative Essay On Mummies

The article, “Mummies reveal that clogged arteries plagued the ancient world” by Jo Marchant (2013) dispels the belief that the hunter-gatherer lifestyle was perfect, as clogged arteries are shown in mummies. Atherosclerosis is a condition whereby “arteries become narrowed and hardened by plaques — made up of cholesterol and immune cells called macrophages — that build up in their walls. While a major problem in developed countries, it was also prevalent in premodern times (para. 3). Bad cholesterol, saturated fats, and lack of exercise are often thought of as the main contributing factors for plaque buildup (para. 4), but CT scans performed on 137 mummies from four distinct populations with diverse lifestyles and dietary intake including
9). While others, such as Greg Thomas, a cardiologist from the University of California, Irvine, “suggests that high levels of inflammation — caused by smoke inhalation or chronic infection” may likely factors for the layperson (as cited in Marchant, 2013, para. 10). And while this may be a contributing factor, Michael Rosenfeld at the University of Washington, Seattle, interjects, “in animal studies, atherosclerosis does not develop without high levels of fat in the blood” (para.
Ciochon (2014) have indicated a discordance between modern lifestyle and our biocultural past, however, these mummies’ cardiovascular conditions indicates that there may be more to the story than just poor lifestyle choices. As with so many other things, further study is needed to get a complete understanding of what is going on within our bodies. Jurmain et al. (2014) layout “Diet, Lifestyle, and Consequences” indicating that a pre-agricultural diets had a low occurrences of coronary artery disease, while contemporary diets, on the other hand, do (p. 449). While there is a need to monitor our diets, this statement may be an oversimplification to an underlying factor that has plagued hominins for some millennia. Nothing indicates these mummies suffered from obesity, or over nutrition especially since the majority were unlikely to be from noble or privileged classes. With the growing numbers of obesity, diabetes, and other health problems, I wonder why the educational system has moved away from teaching the food pyramid and making nutritional awareness a staple in