{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T12:03:57Z","timestamp":1784289837049,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Bioscientifica","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783382400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":187,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.bioscientifica.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The aim of this study was to explore the historical evolution of atherosclerosis, from early understanding of the function of the heart and blood vessels to the discovery of arterial occlusive disease. This narrative review draws on historical medical texts, archaeological findings, and recent literature. It synthesizes developments in cardiovascular understanding across ancient, classical, and modern eras, with attention to changing paradigms. Evidence of atherosclerosis has been observed in mummified remains from ancient civilizations, predating any formal understanding of the cardiovascular system. In classical antiquity, the heart and vessels were often assigned symbolic or spiritual meaning, gradually giving way to empirical inquiry and anatomical study. Eventually, atherosclerosis came to be recognized as a multifactorial disease with significant clinical consequences. The understanding of atherosclerosis has evolved through centuries of speculation, anatomical discovery, and technological innovation. These perspectives provide a non-exhaustive overview of historical concepts of the cardiovascular system and atherosclerosis in particular.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1530\/vb-25-0013","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T11:16:53Z","timestamp":1784287013000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1530\/crossmarkpolicy-12","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["From mummies to internal mammaries: a historical perspective on the discovery of atherosclerosis"],"prefix":"10.1530","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3463-1217","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Vincent Q","family":"Sier","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center 1 , ,","place":["Leiden, The Netherlands"]},{"name":"Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center 2 , ,","place":["Leiden, The Netherlands"]},{"name":"Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Catharina Hospital 3 , ,","place":["Eindhoven, The Netherlands"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ferdi","family":"Akca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Catharina Hospital 3 , ,","place":["Eindhoven, The Netherlands"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul T","family":"Sergeant","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiac Surgery, KU Leuven 4 , ,","place":["Leuven, Belgium"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jan M","family":"De Raet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiac Surgery, Saint-Jean Hospital 5 , ,","place":["Brussels, Belgium"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrew J","family":"Nelson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario 6 , , ,","place":["London, Ontario, Canada"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6853-5760","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Paul H A","family":"Quax","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center 1 , ,","place":["Leiden, The Netherlands"]},{"name":"Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center 2 , ,","place":["Leiden, The Netherlands"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Niels","family":"Verberkmoes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Catharina Hospital 3 , ,","place":["Eindhoven, The Netherlands"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alan","family":"Dardik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai 7 , , ,","place":["New York, New York, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3648-9130","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Margreet R","family":"de Vries","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center 1 , ,","place":["Leiden, The Netherlands"]},{"name":"Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center 2 , ,","place":["Leiden, The Netherlands"]},{"name":"Department of Cardiology, Brigham & Women\u2019s Hospital and Harvard Medical School 8 , , ,","place":["Boston, Massachusetts, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"416","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026071707164596900_bib1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1211","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(13)60598-X","article-title":"Atherosclerosis across 4000 years of human history: the horus study of four ancient 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