Researchers have found the bacterium (Helicobacter pylori) which is responsible for ulcers--inside mummies discovered in northern Chile (by paleopathologists Enrique Gerstzen and Marvin J. Allison of the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond).

Originally, Dr. Pelayo Correa (a stomach cancer specialist at the Louisiana State University Medical Center) believed he would be able to find evidence of the bacterium inside the mucosa lining the mummies' stomachs. However, it no longer existed. So Pelayo resorted to Plan B: examining stool samples from the mummies' intestines. Of the sixteen mummies' tested, nine showed evidence of the bacterium.

Although the findings aren't proof that these nine individuals (who died about 1,700 years ago) had ulcers themselves, it shows that some ancient peoples most likely suffered from gastritis (at a minimum) and ulcers, too (since both are caused by H. pylori). Now scientists want to know if the same strain of the bacterium is still found in people today.

By the way, the mummies were members of the Cabuza tribe. (USA Today, 1/14/99)