Mummies Had Clogged Arteries, Nanny Statists Hardest Hit

The basis for government laws regulating unhealthy foods and drinks, up to and including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on large sugary drinks which is in effect starting tomorrow, is the idea that they cause problems such as heart disease.

But new research into mummies indicates that heart disease was a problem for human begins long before there were Big Macs and Big Gulps:

LONDON (AP) — Even without modern-day temptations like fast food or cigarettes, people had clogged arteries some 4,000 years ago, according to the biggest-ever hunt for the condition in mummies.

Researchers say that suggests heart disease may be more a natural part of human aging rather than being directly tied to contemporary risk factors like smoking, eating fatty foods and not exercising.

This sort of reminds me of global warming. We’re told that there’s a crisis, and that we’re causing it, but it turns out there’s really not a crisis and our behavior isn’t having all that much of an impact on it.