Dataset Information

Evaluating the relationship between lesion burden and aging among the skeletons of an 18th-19th century London cemetery using osteological and radiological analysis.

ABSTRACT: Study of disease in the past can help illuminate patterns of human health, disease, and aging in the present. As average human life expectancy and incidence of chronic disease have increased in the last century, efforts to understand this epidemiologic shift have led to more investigation of healthy aging. Using osteological and radiological methods of analysis, this study examined 212 mostly nineteenth century adult skeletons from the crypt of St. Bride's in London, in order to investigate the relationship between age-at-death, sex, and number of lesions observed in bone. Lesions were classified into macro-level categories according to the Rapid Method for Recording Human Skeletal Data, and the correlation between age group and number of lesions in each category, as well as the total number of lesions, were analyzed. Correlations between age-at-death and the number and type of lesions were compared across both methods of analysis. A greater total number of lesions and a greater number of types of lesions was observed for the osteologically analyzed data, compared to the radiologically analyzed data. Correlations between age-at-death and specific pathology groups were in general weak, though stronger for the osteologically analyzed data. For each method of analysis, there were statistically significant differences between the total number of lesions and age group, with total number of lesions increasing with age, regardless of method of analysis. Joint and metabolic lesions were the most significant predictors of age-at-death. The correlations between total lesions observed and age-at-death were similar for radiologically and osteologically analyzed data, for the same set of bones. This suggests that, for the bones analyzed, while the number of lesions recorded differed according to method of analysis, the relationship between overall observed lesion burden and age-at-death was similar for both osteological and radiological analysis.

SUBMITTER: van Schaik K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5919625 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evaluating the relationship between lesion burden and aging among the skeletons of an 18th-19th century London cemetery using osteological and radiological analysis.

van Schaik Katherine K Eisenberg Ronald R Bekvalac Jelena J Rühli Frank F

PloS one 20180426 4

Study of disease in the past can help illuminate patterns of human health, disease, and aging in the present. As average human life expectancy and incidence of chronic disease have increased in the last century, efforts to understand this epidemiologic shift have led to more investigation of healthy aging. Using osteological and radiological methods of analysis, this study examined 212 mostly nineteenth century adult skeletons from the crypt of St. Bride's in London, in order to investigate the ...[more]

PMID: 29698453

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Project description:As a reaction to widespread poverty, a system of coercive welfare developed in Switzerland during the 19th century. Poverty was often thought to result from an individual's misconduct rather than from structural, economic or political circumstances. People whose lifestyle deviated from the desired norm or who were unable to make a living for themselves were subjected to so-called administrative detention at institutions such as workhouses and poorhouses. The excavation of the cemetery of the correctional facility/workhouse and asylum «Realta» in Cazis offered the opportunity to gain insight into the living conditions of a marginalized group of people and to shed light on aspects of coercive welfare that have hardly been addressed in historical studies. A comprehensive study of pathological alterations was used to assess possible physical causes and effects of administrative detention. Skeletal samples from regular contemporaneous cemeteries provided data for the general population and thus allowed us to detect peculiarities in the «Realta» assemblage. Possible cases of Stickler Syndrome, microcephaly, congenital syphilis, endemic hypothyroidism and disabilities secondary to trauma may have been the reason for the affected individuals' institutionalisation. The high prevalence of tuberculosis was linked to the socioeconomic status and the living conditions at the facility. Several cases of scurvy and osteomalacia may have resulted from various risk factors such as poverty, alcoholism, mental illness or institutionalisation. The fracture rates, especially of ribs, were extremely high. A large proportion of the fractures were incompletely healed and most likely occurred during detention due to interpersonal violence. Underlying diseases further contributed to the high fracture rates. This first study on skeletons from an institution of administrative detention in Switzerland demonstrated how pre-existing health conditions and the socioeconomic background contributed to the chance of being detained, and how detention led to further deterioration of health.

Project description:To broaden bioarchaeological applicability of skeletal frailty indices (SFIs) and increase sample size, we propose indices with fewer biomarkers (2-11 non-metric biomarkers) and compare these reduced biomarker SFIs to the original metric/non-metric 13-biomarker SFI. From the 2-11-biomarker SFIs, we choose the index with the fewest biomarkers (6-biomarker SFI), which still maintains the statistical robusticity of a 13-biomarker SFI, and apply this index to the same Medieval monastic and nonmonastic populations, albeit with an increased sample size. For this increased monastic and nonmonastic sample, we also propose and implement a 4-biomarker SFI, comprised of biomarkers from each of four stressor categories, and compare these SFI distributions with those of the non-metric biomarker SFIs. From the Museum of London WORD database, we tabulate multiple SFIs (2- to 13-biomarkers) for Medieval monastic and nonmonastic samples (N = 134). We evaluate associations between these ten non-metric SFIs and the 13-biomarker SFI using Spearman's correlation coefficients. Subsequently, we test non-metric 6-biomarker and 4-biomarker SFI distributions for associations with cemetery, age, and sex using Analysis of Variance/Covariance (ANOVA/ANCOVA) on larger samples from the monastic and nonmonastic cemeteries (N = 517). For Medieval samples, Spearman's correlation coefficients show a significant association between the 13-biomarker SFI and all non-metric SFIs. Utilizing a 6-biomarker and parsimonious 4-biomarker SFI, we increase the nonmonastic and monastic samples and demonstrate significant lifestyle and sex differences in frailty that were not observed in the original, smaller sample. Results from the 6-biomarker and parsimonious 4-biomarker SFIs generally indicate similarities in means, explained variation (R2), and associated P-values (ANOVA/ANCOVA) within and between nonmonastic and monastic samples. We show that non-metric reduced biomarker SFIs provide alternative indices for application to other bioarchaeological collections. These findings suggest that a SFI, comprised of six or more non-metric biomarkers available for the specific sample, may have greater applicability than, but comparable statistical characteristics to, the originally proposed 13-biomarker SFI.

Dataset Information

Evaluating the relationship between lesion burden and aging among the skeletons of an 18th-19th century London cemetery using osteological and radiological analysis.

Publications

Evaluating the relationship between lesion burden and aging among the skeletons of an 18th-19th century London cemetery using osteological and radiological analysis.

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