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Ancient / Historical Deaths From 'Modern' Diseases (Cancer, Etc.)

ramonmercado

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3,200-year-old skeleton found with cancer
March 17th, 2014 in Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

Archaeologists have found the 3,200-year-old skeleton of a man with a spreading form of cancer, the oldest example so far of a disease often associated with modern lifestyles, scientists said Monday.

The remains of a man believed to be aged between 25 and 35 were found last year in a tomb in Sudan on the banks of the River Nile by a student at Durham University in northeast England.

The bones showed evidence of metastatic carcinoma, or a malignant soft-tumour cancer which has spread from the original site to other parts of the body, although it was not possible to say if he died from the disease.

"This may help us to understand the almost unknown history of the disease. We have very few examples pre the first millennium AD," said Michaela Binder, the researcher who found the skeleton.

Small lesions on the bones could only have been caused by a soft tissue cancer although the exact site where the disease originated was impossible to determine, she said.

The cause could have been environmental, for example from carcinogens from wood fire smoke, genetic or from the parasite schistosomiasis, which still causes bladder and breast cancer to this day in the area.

The research team from Durham University and the British Museum said that although cancer is currently one of the world's leading causes of death, it had until now been almost absent from archaeological finds.

Worldwide, there had only been one convincing example of metastatic cancer predating the 1st millennium BC in human remains, and two tentative examples.

This had led to the conclusion among scientists that it is "mainly a product of modern living and increased longevity," they added.

"Insights gained from archaeological human remains like these can really help us to understand the evolution and history of modern diseases."

The skeleton was found in Amara West, 750 kilometres (466 miles) downstream from the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

The man was buried on his back in a painted wooden coffin with a glazed amulet.

© 2014 AFP

"3,200-year-old skeleton found with cancer." March 17th, 2014. http://phys.org/news/2014-03-year-old-s ... ancer.html

Edit to amend title.
 
'Humans had clogged arteries 3,000 years ago'
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-26922651

Researchers believe the discovery could help develop an understanding of how diseases have evolved

Clogged-up arteries have been affecting humans for at least 3,000 years, according to new research by experts from Durham University.

A team working in northern Sudan, Africa, have found five skeletons which show signs that may be related to a thickening of the arteries' walls.

The skeletons were found in underground chamber tombs.

The team said the discovery could help with the understanding of the evolution of heart disease.

Last month the same team announced it had found the oldest complete skeleton with metastatic cancer.

The latest skeletons - dating from between 1300 and 800BC - are of three females and two males who were all between 35 and 50 years old when they died.

The archaeological site of Amara West is situated on the River Nile, 750km north of the country's modern capital Khartoum.

'Plaguing world's population'
It is being excavated by a team from the British Museum with the work in the cemeteries led by Durham University PhD student Michaela Binder.

She said: "Very little is known about atherosclerosis in past human populations because it is very difficult to find evidence in skeletal human remains.

"Calcified arterial plaques in these 3,000-year-old skeletons show that atherosclerosis is not only a problem of modern lifestyle but may also be related to inflammation, genetic background and ageing in general.

"Insights gained from archaeological remains like these can really help us to understand the evolution and history of modern diseases."

The study is published in the International Journal of Palaeopathology.
 
Newly published research indicates cancer was circa 10 times as common in medieval times as previously estimated.
Medieval Skeletons Might Be Hiding a Cancer Rate Far Higher Than Expected

Cancer isn't just a modern-day affliction. A new archaeological analysis suggests malignant growths in medieval Britain were not as rare as we once thought.

Even before widespread smoking, the Industrial Revolution, and the modern surge in life expectancy, it seems cancer was still a leading cause of disease.

Scanning and X-raying 143 medieval skeletons from six cemeteries in and around the city of Cambridge, archaeologists have predicted cancer cases between the 6th and the 16th century were roughly a quarter of what they are today.

That's 10 times higher than previous estimates, which had put cancer rates at less than one percent.

"Until now it was thought that the most significant causes of ill health in medieval people were infectious diseases such as dysentery and bubonic plague, along with malnutrition and injuries due to accidents or warfare," says archaeologist Jenna Dittmar from Cambridge University.

"We now have to add cancer as one of the major classes of disease that afflicted medieval people." ...
FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/analys...eveals-a-cancer-rate-far-higher-than-expected
 
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