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.
To even vaguely insinuate that there might be an immune difference between dark-skinned peoples and whites is forbidden by the racial police!
:’) The Matt Ridley book “Genome” has a discussion of some apparent immunities and vulnerabilities which stem (sorry) from various blood types, and those ride along on Chromosome 9. :’)
Deadly Flu Outbreak: Is History Repeating Itself?
[23,000 victims in Madagascar]
Newsmax | Aug. 30, 2002 | Phil Brennan
Posted on 08/30/2002 8:38:05 PM EDT by 2sheep
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/742222/posts
Studies Prove People Of Madagascar Came From Borneo And Africa
Mongabay | 7-10-2005 | MongaBay
Posted on 07/10/2005 11:31:26 AM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1440141/posts
Twisting The Record On Vitamin D
cancer decisions | December 2, 2007 | Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
Posted on 12/10/2007 12:52:12 AM EST by Coleus
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1937245/posts
I don't even know for sure what you mean by BS?
BS = Bible Study, perhaps?
No, I mean the stinky stuff that cows leave behind. I don’t believe that humans have been around for 500,000 years period. Carbon dating has it’s faults.
thanks Blam:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1936456/posts?page=2#2
The Antibiotic Vitamin
Science News | 11-10-2006 | Janet Raloff
Posted on 11/10/2006 7:08:52 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1736605/posts
TB was in Turkey 500K years ago.Researchers Discover Ancient Origins Of Tuberculosis-causing BacteriaResearchers have long considered tuberculosis, a bacterial respiratory disease that kills 3 million people each year, a relatively recent human affliction... Most tuberculosis cases are caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its close relatives. However, some tuberculosis patients from East Africa are infected with unusual bacterial strains that form colonies that appear physically different from M. tuberculosis. Using genetic data from the different strains, Vincent and her colleagues discovered that the ancestors of these bacterial strains were also the progenitors of M. tuberculosis. These results suggest that M. tuberculosis and related strains recently emerged from a much more ancient bacterial species than previously thought, possibly as old as 3 million years, Vincent says. "Tuberculosis could thus be much older than the plague, typhoid fever, or malaria, and might have affected early hominids," and its expansion to the rest of the world may have coincided with the waves of human migration out of Africa.
ScienceDaily
Aug. 20, 2005
Note: this topic is from 12/07/2007. Just a ping message update. Thanks blam.
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