{"id":876,"date":"2023-09-21T02:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T02:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drmirkin.com\/2018\/06\/10\/otzi-the-iceman-and-the-diseases-of-inflammation\/"},"modified":"2023-09-26T00:19:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T00:19:04","slug":"otzi-the-iceman-and-the-diseases-of-inflammation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/?p=876","title":{"rendered":"Otzi the Iceman and 5,300 Years of the Diseases of Inflammation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"New, sophisticated DNA analysis of a dead frozen body preserved for more than 5000 years has shown that Otzi the Iceman was probably a farmer rather than a hunter-gatherer as was previously suggested. The new analysis also shows that he had darker skin than typical present-day Europeans, and genes associated with male-pattern baldness, type 2 diabetes and obesity-related high blood sugar levels called metabolic syndrome (Cell Genomics,<\/em> Sept 23, 2023;3(9):100377). Multiple studies on his frozen body show that human disease has not changed much in the last 5300 years and most diseases today are still associated with an overactive immune system called inflammation.<\/div>\n
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Inflammation<\/strong><\/div>\n
Your immune system is good for you. It is supposed to attack and kill invading organisms to prevent them from harming you.\u00a0 You have cytokines that punch holes in the membranes of invading bacteria and white blood cells that kill and eat them.\u00a0 However, your immune system is supposed to dampen down after it has done its jobs of killing germs or healing wounds.\u00a0 If it stays active all the time, you will suffer from inflammation<\/a> as your immunity uses the same mechanisms that kill germs to attack you. Today we know that inflammation is linked to arteriosclerosis, arthritis, some types of cancers, heart attacks, various auto-immune diseases and so forth.\u00a0 Inflammation can be caused by or made worse by any chronic infection.\u00a0 \u00a0Recent analyses of this most-studied mummy of all time show that he had signs of inflammation linked to many of the diseases we suffer today.\u00a0 He had:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u2022 extensive arteriosclerosis, a precursor for a heart attack<\/div>\n
\u2022 Helicobacter pylori, a common bacterium that causes stomach ulcers<\/div>\n
\u2022 damaged cartilage in both knees that is associated with arthritis<\/div>\n
\u2022 whipworm parasites<\/div>\n
\u2022 Lyme disease<\/div>\n
\u2022 decayed teeth<\/div>\n
He also had 61 tattoos inked on his skin, which may have been decorative or the result of a primitive pain control effort similar to acupuncture.<\/div>\n
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Discovery of Otzi the Iceman<\/strong>
\nIn 1991, hikers in the Italian Alps discovered Otzi the Iceman, a man who was preserved in ice after his murder about 5,300 years ago. He was killed by a hard blow on his head and an arrow through his shoulder when he was about 45 years old. \u00a0He is now entombed at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, with a life-size statue of him as he may have looked standing nearby.<\/div>\n
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Extensive Arteriosclerosis and Meat<\/strong><\/div>\n
CT scan X rays showed that Otzi the Iceman was at high risk for a heart attack or stroke because he had huge plaques in the arteries leading to his heart, carotid arteries leading to his brain, the distal aorta leading to his legs and the right iliac artery leading to his right leg (Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der Ro\u0308ntgenstrahlen<\/em>, May 28, 2018). But unlike most North Americans today who suffer a\u00a0 high rate of heart attacks, he was not overweight, did not smoke tobacco, probably did not drink much alcohol, was very active, and certainly did not eat the typical Western high-sugar diet.\u00a0 An earlier analysis of the contents of his stomach found that his last meal included the meat of wild goat and deer and some grains, and earlier meals also included meats.\u00a0 He may have been a shepherd and his clothing was made from animal hides of six or more domestic and wild species, so apparently meat was readily available to him.<\/div>\n
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Studies on this mummy from 50 centuries ago add to the evidence that eating meat can be linked to plaques in arteries. Today, autopsies on apparently healthy North Americans under age 30 who died from homicides, accidents or suicides have shown that almost all already had extensive plaques in their arteries (Pathology International<\/em>, June 1995;45(6):403\u2013408). Other studies show that arteriosclerotic plaques start to form at bad LDL cholesterol levels of 50 to 60 mg\/dL (J of the Am Coll of Cardiol,<\/em> Dec 19, 2017;70:2979-2991). Almost never does a doctor today see an untreated\u00a0 patient with LDL below 50, and red meat appears to be a major culprit.\u00a0 For each three ounces of meat a person eats per day, there is a 16 percent increased risk of death from heart attacks, a 10 percent increased risk of death from cancer and a 12 percent increased risk of death overall (Archives of Internal Medicine<\/em>, November 12, 2012).<\/div>\n
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