Prehistoric juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in a precontact Louisiana Native population reconsidered

Abstract

Descriptions of skeletal pathological conditions evident in the prehistoric Tchefuncte adolescent 16ST1-14883b are clarified. The basis is reaffirmed for assigning to the described pathological conditions a diagnostic perspective of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis or juvenile Lyme disease--a disease that mimics juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in its arthritic presentation--rather than of assigning them as representative of juvenile onset ankylosing spondylitis or other juvenile spondyloarthropathies. A hypothesis (Lewis [1994] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 93:455-475) is restated that 1) the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi was the infectious agent responsible for prevalence of adult rheumatoid arthritis in prehistoric southeastern Native American populations, 2) that B. burgdorferi is a possible cause of the arthritis evident in individual 16ST1-14883b, and 3) that antibodies to B. burgdorferi provided partial immunity to the related spirochete Treponema pallidum for the 16ST1 precontact Tchefuncte population from Louisiana, protecting them from severe treponemal response. Given the probable widespread existence of Ixodid tick vectors for B. burgdorferi in prehistoric North America, coupled with the existence of treponematosis, it follows that the transition of Native American hunting-gathering economies to more sedentary economies would predictably be linked to an increased incidence of treponematosis due to the loss of benefits of the above-stated partial immunity. In other words, as prehistoric Native American exposure to tick vectors for B. burgdorferi decreased, susceptibility to treponematosis increased. Inferences regarding biological controls interacting with and influencing prehistoric Native American migration patterns are suggested from the link of B. burgdorferi to an Ixodid tick common to northeast Asia.

Pediatric paleoradiology: Applications and best practice protocols for image acquisition and reporting

“…Less commonly, the entire skeleton was imaged to characterize a suspected disease process or to provide as complete an assessment as possible. Such complete evaluations of individual skeletons have shown, for example, diffuse skeletal lesions consistent with syphilis (Mansilla & Pijoan, 1995); lytic lesions (Lewis, 1998); erosions suggestive of juvenile arthritis (Rothschild et al, 1997); evidence for osteogenesis imperfecta (Cope & Dupras, 2011); skeletal stigmata of child abuse (Blondiaux et al, 2002; Wheeler et al, 2013); diffuse cortical porosity and subperiosteal bone deposition felt to represent renal osteodystrophy (Mays & Turner‐Walker, 2008); lytic lesions suggestive of acute lymphocytic leukemia (Isidro et al, 2019); and metabolic deficiency (Wheeler et al, 2013). Such studies reveal the importance of imaging the entire skeleton, as minor lesions may not be visible macroscopically on bone surfaces (Western & Bekvalac, 2015).…”

The Estimation of Stature from the Tarsals: Enhancing the Disaster Victim Identification Process in Thailand Using the Calcaneus and the Talus

“…These types of settlements would have had poor sanitation and waste disposal, factors that increased the frequency of infection and disease (e.g. diarrheal infections and iron deficiency anemia), which would have been exacerbated by the fact that prehistoric populations did not have access to modern medicine or medical technologies for treatment (Boyd, 1996;Lewis, 1998). As a result, these populations would have had poorer population health, higher susceptibility to disease and lack of modern medicine/medical care, higher nutritional stress, and lower quality of living conditions than the contemporary Thai population (Barrett et al, 2001;Murphy, 2002a,b;Wilbur, 1998).…”