Posted on 12/07/2007 5:10:26 PM PST by blam
Most Ancient Case Of Tuberculosis Found In 500,000-year-old Human; Points To Modern Health Issues
View of the inside of a plaster cast of the skull of the newly discovered young male Homo erectus from western Turkey. The stylus points to tiny lesions 1-2 mm in size found along the rim of bone just behind the right eye orbit. The lesions were formed by a type of tuberculosis that infects the brain and, at 500,000 years in age, represents the most ancient case of TB known in humans. (Credit: Marsha Miller, the University of Texas at Austin)"
ScienceDaily (Dec. 7, 2007) — Although most scientists believe tuberculosis emerged only several thousand years ago, new research from The University of Texas at Austin reveals the most ancient evidence of the disease has been found in a 500,000-year-old human fossil from Turkey.
The discovery of the new specimen of the human species, Homo erectus, suggests support for the theory that dark-skinned people who migrate northward from low, tropical latitudes produce less vitamin D, which can adversely affect the immune system as well as the skeleton.
Prior to this discovery in western Turkey, which helps scientists fill a temporal and geographical gap in human evolution, the oldest evidence of tuberculosis in humans was found in mummies from Egypt and Peru that date to several thousand years ago.
Paleontologists spent decades prospecting in Turkey for remains of Homo erectus, widely believed to be the first human species to migrate out of Africa. After moving north, the species had to adapt to increasingly seasonal climates.
The researchers identified this specimen of Homo erectus as a young male based on aspects of the cranial suture closure, sinus formation and the size of the ridges of the brow. They also found a series of small lesions etched into the bone of the cranium whose shape and location are characteristic of the Leptomeningitis tuberculosa, a form of tuberculosis that attacks the meninges of the brain.
After reviewing the medical literature on the disease that has reemerged as a global killer, the researchers found that some groups of people demonstrate a higher than average rate of infection, including Gujarati Indians who live in London, and Senegalese conscripts who served with the French army during World War I.
The research team identified two shared characteristics in the communities: a path of migration from low, tropical latitudes to northern temperate regions and darker skin color.
People with dark skin produce less vitamin D because the skin pigment melanin blocks ultraviolet light. And, when they live in areas with lower ultraviolet radiation such as Europe, their immune systems can be compromised.
John Kappelman, professor of anthropology at The University of Texas at Austin, is part of an international team of researchers from the United States, Turkey and Germany who have published their findings in the Dec. 7 issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
It is likely that Homo erectus had dark skin because it evolved in the tropics, Kappelman explained. After the species moved north, it had to adapt to more seasonal climates. The researchers hypothesize the young male's body produced less vitamin D and this deficiency weakened his immune system, opening the door to tuberculosis.
"Skin color represents one of biology's most elegant adaptations," Kappelman said. "The production of vitamin D in the skin serves as one of the body's first lines of defenses against a whole host of infections and diseases. Vitamin D deficiencies are implicated in hypertension, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease and cancer."
Before antibiotics were invented, doctors typically treated tuberculosis by sending patients to sanatoria where they were prescribed plenty of sunshine and fresh air.
"No one knew why sunshine was integral to the treatment, but it worked," Kappelman said. "Recent research suggests the flush of ultraviolet radiation jump-started the patients' immune systems by increasing the production of vitamin D, which helped to cure the disease."
The Leakey Foundation and the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey funded the research.
Adapted from materials provided by University of Texas at Austin.
Not true. There were a number of other 'humans' who came out of Africa before Homo Erectus.
Image: JOHN GURCHE PORTRAIT OF A PIONEER With a brain half the size of a modern one and a brow reminiscent of Homo habilis, this hominid is one of the most primitive members of our genus on record. Paleoartist John Gurche reconstructed this 1.75-million-year-old explorer from a nearly complete teenage H. erectus skull and associated mandible found in Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia. The background figures derive from two partial crania recovered at the site.
Good article!
I thought only Homo sapiens sapiens are "human"?
From Wiki:
Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and their close relatives. The genus is estimated to be between 1.5 and 2.5 million years old. All species except Homo sapiens (modern humans) are extinct. Homo neanderthalensis, traditionally considered the last surviving relative, died out 24,000 years ago while a recent discovery suggests that another species, Homo floresiensis, may have lived as recently as 12,000 years ago.
If it hadn’t been for Bush, he could’ve had better healthcare.
What was the human’s name, Methuselah?
It's time for a hominid family reunion, and anthropologists Ian Tattersall and Jeffrey Schwartz have brought the scrapbook. Extinct Humans is both an album of knowledge of our ancestors and closely related species and a theoretical reconsideration of the fossil evidence. Tattersall and Schwartz suggest that many more human species existed than we previously thought, and that many of them existed contemporaneously until about 25,000 years ago. Profusely illustrated, the book makes its case well, showing and discussing the evidence and proposing a family history that pulls all the fossils and theories together into a testable whole. The authors have personally investigated every available hominid specimen, and the depth of their knowledge is staggering at times--but their obsession is enlightening and entertaining.
But what if there were other beings around that were almost as highly evolved as us ... or maybe moreso in some ways?
If God created all of these human-like beings, but only gave souls to some of them. Or maybe gave souls to all of them, but allowed all but one species to go extinct ...
Oh well, you get where this Pandora's box is opening ...
Pure BS.
I think I saw that guy on sub way last night
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Thanks Blam.People with dark skin produce less vitamin DI blame whitey. |
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How could such a politically incorrect statement come from Austin, TX? Sure looks like he is claiming that white skin is more evolved (advanced) than dark skin.
TB or not TB, that is the question...
Other species are not human.
But I recognize each generation of scientists makes up new theories (treated as fact) debunking the theories of the last generation of scientists (treated in their day as fact).
Heck... scientists generate the “facts” so I guess they can take a hoe and call it a shovel if they want.
Blam
Did you see a recent article about infuenza spreading best during lower temperature and humidity? Flu spreads best at 41F and 20% humidity. That is why flu season is during the winter, not because people are closer indoors during winter.
Yes, Idid see that.
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