Aging bone score and climatic factors

Abstract

Hand radiograms for osseographic assessment of bone aging status were taken from more than 7,500 individuals residing in 31 different localities and belonging to 20 ethnic groups. Multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate possible associations between bone aging parameters and several climatic factors, to wit: hours of daylight in January and July, average monthly humidity and partial vapor pressure in January and July, and one climatic index pertaining to comfort conditions in life, namely, the Bioclimatic Index of Severity of Climatic Regime. Multiple regression analysis clearly pointed to significant correlations between climatic characteristics and indices defining the relative rate of bone aging in humans; it also evinced an independent contribution of July's humidity and January's mean temperature to earliest age at which first signs of bone aging can be found. In sum, there are grounds for concluding that temperature and humidity are key factors in triggering initial bone changes in individuals within the human populations prone to environmental effects. The combination of humidity and temperature with other factors which reflect the sharpness of the interseasonal differences in climatic conditions predispose the populations to early onset of bone changes.

Do environmental disturbances of an individual's growth and development influence the later bone involution processes? A study of two mediaeval populations

“…For these reasons, one may find in anthropological literature numerous works dealing with the estimation of bone loss based on the examination of the metacarpus. In their studies, particular researchers focused on the following issues: development of the metacarpus (Wolań ski, 1967;Bonnard, 1968;Himes et al, 1975;Kimura, 1978;Becker, 1984;Plato et al, 1984), estimation of the stature based on the measurements of metacarpals in children and adult individuals (Musgrave & Harneja, 1978;Kimura, 1992), estimation of age at death Karasik et al, 1999), effect of climatic conditions on radiomorphometric characteristics of the metacarpus Belkin et al, 1998), methodology of radiometric examination, with particular attention paid to variability and correlations between particular metacarpals and phalanxes (Anderson et al, 1966;Chumlea et al, 1984;Kušec et al, 1990;Garn, 1991;Lazenby, 1995), research, including comparative analyses on the nature and intensity of bone tissue involution (Smith & Rizek, 1966;Spencer et al, 1966;Morgan et al, 1967;Plato & Norris, 1980;Plato et al, 1982;Kušec et al, 1988;Kušec, 1989;Mišigoj-Duraković, 1992).…”

An investigation of cortical bone loss and fracture patterns in the neolithic community of Çatalhöyük, Turkey using metacarpal radiogrammetry

“…Bioarchaeologists have conducted numerous studies using metacarpal cortical bone radiogrammetry to investigate functional adaptation, growth, ageing, bone loss associated with osteoporosis and as a reliable indicator of fracture risk (Belkin et al, 1998;Himes et al, 1975;Ives and Brickley, 2005;Lazenby, 2002cLazenby, , 1998Lazenby, , 1995Mays, 2006Mays, , 2001Mays, , 2000Mays, , 1996Plato et al, 1982Plato et al, , 1984Rewekant, 2001). However, there have been very few works in the bioarchaeological literature on cortical bone loss in prehistoric skeletal materials making our investigation of cortical bone loss and fracture patterns in archaeological skeletons excavated from the Neolithic Community of Çatalhöyük, Turkey a unique addition to this body of work.…”

Variations in epiphyseal fusion and persistence of the epiphyseal line in the appendicular skeleton of two identified modern (19th–20th c.) adult Portuguese and Italian samples

“…For example, chronic malnutrition could delay skeletal maturation by 2 or 3 years (Johnston & Zimmer, ). Climatic factors also seem to affect growth and development, albeit to a lesser degree (Belkin, Livshits, Otremski, & Kobyliansky, ). In our case, the towns of Sassari and Coimbra are both in the subtropical temperate‐hot climatic belt (cf., Atlante Geografico Metodico De Agostini, 1998).…”