Overview Of The History Of Heart Disease
The history of heart disease contains some quite interesting facts. The importance of the heart and heart disease in relation to our health, has changed dramatically over the thousands of years since ancient times.
The heart was known to be important, even back in ancient Egypt. Looking at the history of heart disease, we have many more cases of heart disease than our ancestors did.
Ancient Egyptians realized that the heart played a major role in keeping the body functioning. Many believed the heart had a supernatural connection to the person. There are similar beliefs about the heart as relates to the ancient Egyptian ‘s belief and the Far East’s.
Ancient Egypt’s Beliefs About The Heart
These ancient Egyptian archaeological discoveries tell us that they believed the seat of personality and of human wisdom originates in the heart. The commonly held belief was that there were passageways that streamed from the heart, to other locations within the body. Fluids of the body such as blood was transmitted by these pathways, to parts of the body where needed. It was thought that a blocked channel would create disease.
Ancient Egyptians thought the soul, emotions, and human awareness… the origination of all of these was in the heart, so they thought. Music and poetry, even in this modern age, is described using the word heart, as if the heart was affected by feelings and emotions. The belief that the ancient Egyptians had was that by means of the heart, God spoke to us. Repeatedly since then in history, it has been written, “She has a broken heart”. We’ve learned much from the study of that culture back then.
History Of Heart Disease And The Middle Ages
Research on the history of heart disease of the English speaking people in the middle ages, indicate they did not have much disease caused by cholesterol. The Briton’s in the middle ages experienced few cases of heart disease. They ate much less fatty foods, and the foods were not processed. These foods that they consumed were also high in nutritional value.
The Modern Age And Cardiovascular Disease
In pre-industrial times, medical research on the history of heart disease, tells us that most people did not suffer from heart ailments and subsequent death from cardiovascular disease.
In the 1800′s the industrial revolution came into being. Diseases of the heart were increased after the start of the industrial revolution. Before the advent of technology and mechanization, most people performed manual labour. Manual labour helped to keep the heart and the body overall, fit and strong. So quite simply doing physical work is good for heart disease prevention, and will also help you keep from getting fat.
The Modern Age And Diet
As we all know nowadays, the foods we eat play a huge role in the possibility of whether or not we will have any cardiovascular ailments. The heart’s health is degraded if we eat foods that contain a lot of trans fatty acids, saturated fats, and salt. Fast food franchises are a quick way to get a meal but the cooking process of the food is sometimes very unhealthy and can increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Salt found in some canned foods can also exceed our daily requirements for salt. Natural food such as raw vegetables and fruits are healthier as a general rule than processed foods. A common rule of health is eat well and exercise, then… we may not become a statistic in the books of the future of the history of heart disease.