ANTHROP 1AA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Paleopathology, Dental Caries, Hyperostosis

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: ANTHROP 1AA3
• Professor: Bernice Kaczynski

Document Summary

Anthropology 1aa3 - lecture # 4 - disease and death. Illness perceptions and experiences of a health problem. Disease biological health problem; universal (e. g. , measles) Paleopathology the study of disease and injury in the human skeleton (& sometimes mummies) Establish presence of disease based on evidence from skeletal remains. Skeletal sample a sample of living people. Only a small % of people will exhibit skeletal lesions (e. g. , tb - <5% will have skeletal involvement) Most infectious diseases will only affect the skeleton in chronic phases. Need a fairly good immune system - you have to survive the disease! Plaque on teeth caused by bacteria and saliva. General indicator of stress during growth and development. Evidence of disease in animals (e. g. dogs, cattle, etc ) Paleolithic diet lots of vegetables, low in fat, sodium, and carbohydrates. Epidemiology study of the determinants, dynamics and distribution of disease. Associated with major changes in human way of life.