International Journal of Paleopathology 
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This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.The rachitic tooth: The use of radiographs as a screening technique
This study investigates morphological changes in pulp chambers of living and archaeological individuals with past vitamin D deficiency. Living individuals (n = 29), four with detailed medical and dental records and three groups of archaeological individuals (n = 25) were radiographed; selected individuals were further evaluated histologically for the presence of incremental interglobular dentin (IIGD), indicative of deficiency (28 living; 17 archaeological). Measurements of pulp horns/chambers from radiographs were conducted to quantify morphological observations. One group had clear skeletal evidence o...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
Gender-related vitamin D deficiency in a Dutch 19th century farming community
Publication date: Available online 10 November 2017Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Barbara Veselka, Alie E. van der Merwe, Menno L.P. Hoogland, Andrea L. Waters-RistAbstractThe most common cause of vitamin D deficiency is inadequate dermal exposure to sunlight. Residual rickets is nonadult vitamin D deficiency still evident in an adult individual, whereas osteomalacia occurs in adulthood. Previous research on the Beemster population, a 19th century rural community in the Netherlands, identified rickets in 30.4% of the nonadults between the ages of two and four years (n = 7/23). Because t...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
The epidemiology of rickets in the 17th–19th centuries: Some contributions from documentary sources and their value to palaeopathologists
This article considers the nature of written sources on the epidemiology of rickets in the post-Mediaeval period, and examines the value of these sources for palaeopathologists. There is a progression from 17th–18th century sources, which generally make ex cathedra, qualitative statements on rickets frequency to, in the 19th century, semi-quantitative geographical surveys of its occurrence, through to reports of percentage prevalence in various groups. Of course, even these latter cannot be directly compared with prevalences calculated from excavated skeletal remains, but there are also considerable difficulties in compa...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
Use of high resolution computed tomography to diagnose ante-mortem dental root fractures in archaeological samples
This study demonstrates the potential of high resolution CT in confirming and refuting ante-mortem processes, and that visualisation of 3D structures is crucial for arriving at definitive diagnoses. (Source: International Journal of Paleopathology)
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
Vitamin D’s role in health and disease: How does the present inform our understanding of the past?
Publication date: Available online 28 November 2017Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Laura Lockau, Stephanie A. AtkinsonAbstractWhile the role of vitamin D in supporting bone homeostasis during growth and maintenance is well substantiated, emerging evidence from ecological and observational studies suggests that a deficiency of vitamin D is associated with some cancers, immune disorders, cardiovascular disease, abnormal glucose metabolism, and neurodegenerative diseases. Biological plausibility for extraskeletal functions originated with the discovery of the vitamin D receptor in many body tissues a...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
Rare paleopathological insights into vitamin D deficiency rickets, co-occurring illnesses, and documented cause of death in mid-19th century London, UK
This study investigated paleopathological evidence and documentary records of individual cause of death to examine disease co-occurrence in a group of mid-19th century child burials from London, UK. Twenty-one percent of children had vitamin D deficiency rickets (138/642) and 36 children with rickets had an identified cause of death. Cyclical episodes of metabolic and nutritional deficiencies (rickets and scurvy) had occurred during childhood. Active rickets co-occurred with respiratory and gastrointestinal infections in a small number of children, likely reflecting vitamin D’s role in supporting immune function. Conside...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
Radiographically recognizable? An investigation into the appearance of osteomalacic pseudofractures
Publication date: Available online 4 January 2018Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Emma Jennings, Jo Buckberry, Megan BrickleyAbstractPseudofractures, lucent bands that occur due to a build-up of osteoid, are a key feature of osteomalacia. In paleopathology, pseudofractures are often marked by small, linear cracks in the cortex of the bone surrounded by irregular, bony spicule formation. Radiography can be used to help diagnose pseudofractures, both clinically and in paleopathology. A detailed understanding of the radiographic appearance of pseudofractures and their development is, therefore, necess...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
The discovery and synthesis of the nutritional factor vitamin D
Publication date: Available online 17 January 2018Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Glenville JonesAbstractAlthough vitamin D deficiency was first recognized as rickets/osteomalacia in the early 1600s, it was only a century ago that vitamin D, the nutritional factor responsible, was discovered. This discovery was made difficult by the fact that the substance could be synthesized in human skin by exposure to UV light and could also be present in the diet in animal-derived (D3) and plant-derived forms (D2). Prior to 1920, the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in the general population of industrialize...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
Analysis of patterning in the occurrence of skeletal lesions used as indicators of vitamin D deficiency in subadult and adult skeletal remains
Publication date: Available online 17 January 2018Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Megan B. Brickley, Simon Mays, Michele George, Tracy L. ProwseAbstractPaleopathological investigations of conditions linked to vitamin D deficiency have increased in the last twenty years, and a suite of skeletal lesions has been established to aid in the diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency disease in subadults and adults. This paper analyzes the occurrence of these lesions in a large skeletal series comprising 3541 Roman period individuals (1st–6th century AD). Sixteen lesions reported in rickets in subadults, and 1...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
Osteological evidence for juvenile vitamin D deficiency in a 19th century suburban population from Surrey, England
Publication date: Available online 9 February 2018Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Rebecca Watts, Sascha-Ray ValmeAbstractVitamin D deficiency rickets was considered endemic in the industrialized cities of 19th century England, but was rarely reported in more rural and suburban areas. The commercial excavation of St. John’s Church, Redhill, Surrey, UK provided an opportunity to examine to what extent suburban children were affected by rickets and the factors responsible for its development. Seventy-nine non-adults (0–17 years) from St. John’s Church were subjected to macroscopic and radiograp...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
Fracture of the odontoid process in a male individual from the medieval necropolis of Maro (Málaga, Spain)
This study is one of the first reports of an odontoid process fracture in ancient contexts. (Source: International Journal of Paleopathology)
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
Is it a cystic or a cyst-like condition? Discussing the etiology of an unusual large mandibular lesion in a Roman skeleton from Quinta da Torrinha/Quinta de Santo António (Almada, Portugal)
Publication date: Available online 17 February 2018Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Sandra Assis, Sílvia Casimiro, Francisca Alves CardosoAbstractCystic and cyst-like lesions of the jaw are a recurrent finding in routine dental radiography but not in paleopathology. This paper describes a large oval osteolytic cavity (23 × 14 mm) observed in the mandible of a middle-aged female unearthed from the Roman necropolis of Quinta da Torrinha/Quinta de Santo António (Almada, Portugal, 3rd–5th centuries AD). The lesion was located in the body of the mandible, inferior to the alveolus of the first...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
Root grooves on two adjacent anterior teeth of Australopithecus africanus
In this study, South African fossil hominin collections were examined for evidence of any type of non-carious cervical lesion. Only one individual shows ante-mortem root grooves consistent with non-carious cervical lesions. Two teeth, a mandibular right permanent lateral incisor (STW 270) and canine (STW 213), belonging to the same Australopithecus africanus individual, show clear ante-mortem grooves on the labial root surface. These lesions start below the CEJ, extend over a third of the way toward the apex, and taper to a point towards the lingual side. The characteristics of these grooves suggest the predominant aetiolo...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
The pathology of vitamin D deficiency in domesticated animals: An evolutionary and comparative overview
Publication date: Available online 13 March 2018Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Elizabeth W. UhlAbstractAlthough vitamin D is critical to calcium/phosphorus homeostasis, bone formation and remodeling, there is evolution-based variation between species in vitamin D metabolism and susceptibility to rickets and osteomalacia. Most herbivores produce vitamin D3 in response to sunlight, but dogs and cats have generally lost the ability as carnivore diets are rich in vitamin D. Nutritional deficiencies and/or poor exposure to sunlight can induce rickets in birds, swine, cattle and sheep, but horses are l...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
The roles of vitamin D and cutaneous vitamin D production in human evolution and health
Publication date: Available online 29 March 2018Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Nina G. Jablonski, George ChaplinAbstractMost of the vitamin D necessary for the maintenance of human health and successful reproduction is made in the skin under the influence of a narrow portion of the electromagnetic spectrum emitted from the sun, namely ultraviolet B radiation (UVB). During the course of human evolution, skin pigmentation has evolved to afford protection against high levels of UVR while still permitting cutaneous production of vitamin D. Similar pigmentation phenotypes evolved repeatedly as the res...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 5, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research
