Cancer in Ancient Egyptian Mummies: Evidence of a Possible Man-Made Disease

Scientists from the Manchester Study found that cancer existed in ancient Egyptian mummies. There is also a version that one of the most deadly diseases in history is man-made.

This is reported Daily Star.

Experts came to an interesting conclusion after an ancient Egyptian mummy, which is about 1800 years old, was diagnosed with cancer. It was probably rectal cancer.

The results of this study were published more than ten years ago, but they attracted public attention after the actualization of conversations about the treatment of cancer.

“In industrialized societies, cancer is second only to cardiovascular disease as a cause of death. But in ancient times this was extremely rare. There is nothing in nature that can cause cancer. So it must be a man-made disease, down to environmental pollution and changes in our diet and lifestyle,” said Rosalie David from the Faculty of Life Sciences.

For decades, health professionals have been warning about the effects of certain foods and drinks on increasing the risk of developing cancer. However, it is possible that those same risks were common thousands of years ago.

According to Professor Michael Zimmerman, who diagnosed rectal cancer in a mummy, in ancient societies where surgery was not used, signs of cancer should remain in all cases.

He believes that the absence of malignant neoplasms in mummies should be interpreted as an indication that they were rare in antiquity. The expert stressed that the factors that cause cancer are limited to modern industrialized societies.

“Where there are cases of cancer in ancient Egyptian remains, we are not sure what caused them. They heated their houses with a fire that emitted smoke, and temples burned incense, but sometimes diseases just appear,” he added.

The Cursor wrote earlier that scientists have found a city that, according to legend, was swallowed up by the sea for sins.