1,721,052 research outputs found
The Covid-19 pandemic as a communication responsibility and opportunity for paleopathology
No full textNarrating the famous Plague of Athens (430-426 BC) in its destructive manifestation, Thucydides was the first Western author to offer in his History of the Peloponnesian War (2.51) a compelling description of immunity acquired against a highly lethal infectious agent:[...] more often the sick and the dying were tended by the pitying care of those who had recovered, because they knew the course of the disease and were themselves free from apprehension. For no one was ever attacked a second time, or not with a fatal result [δὶς γὰρ τὸν αὐτόν, ὥστε καὶ κτείνειν, οὐκ ἐπελάμβανεν.] » (1
A likely case of goiter in the Madonna col Bambino dormiente (1465/1470) by Andrea Mantegna (1431--1506)
Full text linkA common theme of the Italian Renaissance, the Madonna with child was often studied and represented by Mantegna throughout his life. In comparison to previous representations characterised by a stiff and awkward rendering of shapes, this is a more intimate and private interpretation of the divine duo with a softer pictorial and more harmonious compositional quality. The particular attention paid to representing reality reveals that the Virgin Mary shows an enlarged neck, with a protruding ovoidal mass
Excavating and communicating human remains: the experience of the ArcheoTroina Project (Enna, Sicily)
No full textThis brief note aims to present to the readership of the PPA the interaction between the disciplines of archaeology and paleopathology by the summer-time activities of the “Archeotroina Project” that, since 2017 has been excavating the medieval site of Troina (Enna, Sicily) by combining field work with theoretical and practical lectures, research, and an involvement of the general public, and local institutions
Morphological and Clinical Aspects of Pott's Disease in Ancient Human Remains: A Scoping Review
No full textStudy Design. The present study is a scoping review of the literature on Pott's disease in ancient human remains. Objective. Comprehending the origin and history of Pott's disease is relevant to assessing this pathological condition from an evolutionary perspective. Summary of Background Data. Tuberculosis (TB) is an ancient pulmonary disease that remains the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, rating above HIV/AIDS. The disease typically affects the lungs but can also target other anatomical sites. Of those, the most common and characteristic are the skeletal changes involving the spine, such as in Pott's disease. Spinal tuberculosis accounts for approximately half of all cases of musculoskeletal tuberculosis. It can lead to loss of function in the lower limbs due to damage to the spinal column. Nevertheless, its origin and evolution are still not fully understood and need further investigation. Methods. The authors investigated the published studies on Pott's disease in ancient human remains, intending to survey the literature, map the evidence and identify gaps and future perspectives on TB in paleopathology. The search strategy was conducted between September 2021 and March 2023 using keywords including the terms "Pott disease"OR "tuberculosis"AND "skeletal remains"in PubMed Biomed Central, Scopus, and Google Scholar search engines and biomedical databases. Five hundred and three records were initially identified, and 66 studies were finally included and assessed for qualitative analysis. Finally, the included records were analyzed in terms of non-narrative data, including the type of publication, country of excavation, dating of the sample, the number of human remains, and their details. Furthermore, the type of bone lesion was indicated as well as the diagnostic method if detailed. Results. Among articles identified, most were classified as original articles, and were published between 2011 and 2020. Close to 77% of the records reported excavation in Europe and the Near middle east. Included studies considered a total of 3388 human remains, mostly excavated in archaeological sites and necropolis. Interestingly, the reported prevalence was higher among young males and adults. Conclusions. Although most of the findings are consistent with the literature, since the majority of the human remains were from Europe and the Near Middle East, more research is necessary in other sectors of the world. The suggestion of a male predominance needs to be confirmed and questions about the possible pathognomic role of rib lesions as well Serpes endocranica symmetrica (SES) represent further areas of research that need to be explored
Did Suetonius really call gout morbus dominorum? A philological and historico‐medical reconstruction.
No full textCurrent scientific literature often defines gout as morbus dominorum, in agreement with the Greek-Roman representation of podagra (ποδάγρα, literally “foot-trap”) as a consequence of gluttony and libertinage. Several authors place the origins of this expression with the Roman writer Suetonius, without however quoting any specific primary source. We have investigated this problem again and scrutinized primary sources ranging from the Roman World to the early Middle Ages. A search on the database of Latin texts for the expression morb* domin* failed to identify any positive correspondence, not only in Suetonius’ works but also in those of other Latin authors. As a matter of fact, the expression morbus dominorum appeared for the first time in the literature on podagra in 1661 in Jakob Balde’s book Solatium Podagricorum. Since then, this definition has been endlessly repeated in seventeenth- to eighteenth-century literature on gout. In 1866, while lecturing on the diseases of the elderly, ..
The Alleged Skull of Sophocles: Anthropological and Paleopathological Confutation of a 19th Century Myth
No full textSophocles is remembered as one of the greatest poets and playwrights in history. Allegedly the author of over one hundred tragedies, only seven survive to this day. While much has been written and said about his life and literary production, the events characterizing his final years are still nebulous and abundant with anecdotes of rather dubious trustworthiness. One of these is about his being sued by his own son Iophon because he was apparently no longer capable of managing the family fortune due to a supposed dementia
Monkeypox between dermatology and anthropology: a model for evolutionary medicine
Full text linkMpox offers an excellent model for the host–pathogen interaction
theory and is capable of making us better understand
not only Mpox in our world and its present outbreak
but also how certain ancient pathogens still under scrutiny
may have evolved through time
The anatomical drawings: the intersection of anatomy and art
No full textThe intersection of anatomy and ar
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