Ageing and disease risk factors: A new paleoepidemiological methodology for understanding disease in the past

IF 1.3 3区地球科学 Q3 PALEONTOLOGY

International Journal of Paleopathology Pub Date : 2023-12-21 DOI:10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.004

Jo Appleby

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

To outline a methodology that enables the reconstruction of age-related disease risk in past societies.

Materials

Modern epidemiological evidence considering risk factors for age-related disease is combined with contextual information about an archaeological society of interest.

Methods

Data gathered is used to create a qualitative population-specific risk model for the disease of interest. To provide a case study, a risk model is constructed for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the Eastern English Bronze Age.

Results

This enables the first rigorous approach to reconstructing age-related disease risk in the past. A risk model shows a high degree of COPD risk in the Eastern English Bronze Age, with a major contribution from indoor airborne pollution and agricultural practices.

Significance

This represents a significant new approach in human paleopathology, facilitating understanding of the occurrence of a wide variety of diseases in the past, without the need for well-preserved skeletons of identified elderly individuals.

Limitations

The risk models generated are, of necessity, qualitative rather than quantitative, since we are unable to calculate the size of risk factors in the past with certainty.

Suggestions for further research

The methodology could be applied to a wide variety of diseases and for many past societies.

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老龄化与疾病风险因素：了解过去疾病的古流行病学新方法

材料将考虑老年疾病风险因素的现代流行病学证据与相关考古社会的背景信息相结合。方法利用收集到的数据为相关疾病建立一个定性的特定人群风险模型。为了提供一个案例研究，我们为英格兰东部青铜时代的慢性阻塞性肺病（COPD）构建了一个风险模型。风险模型显示，英格兰东部青铜时代的慢性阻塞性肺病风险很高，室内空气污染和农业生产方式是主要原因。意义这代表了人类古病理学的一种重要新方法，有助于了解过去各种疾病的发生情况，而不需要保存完好的已确认老人的骨骼。局限性由于我们无法准确计算过去风险因素的大小，因此所生成的风险模型必然是定性而非定量的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Paleopathology PALEONTOLOGY-PATHOLOGY

CiteScore

2.90

自引率

25.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Paleopathology is the study and application of methods and techniques for investigating diseases and related conditions from skeletal and soft tissue remains. The International Journal of Paleopathology (IJPP) will publish original and significant articles on human and animal (including hominids) disease, based upon the study of physical remains, including osseous, dental, and preserved soft tissues at a range of methodological levels, from direct observation to molecular, chemical, histological and radiographic analysis. Discussion of ways in which these methods can be applied to the reconstruction of health, disease and life histories in the past is central to the discipline, so the journal would also encourage papers covering interpretive and theoretical issues, and those that place the study of disease at the centre of a bioarchaeological or biocultural approach. Papers dealing with historical evidence relating to disease in the past (rather than history of medicine) will also be published. The journal will also accept significant studies that applied previously developed techniques to new materials, setting the research in the context of current debates on past human and animal health.