Posts Tagged ‘tuberculosis’

Humans Have Hosted Tuberculosis Bacteria for at Least 9,000 Years


tuberculosis skeletonsA genetic analysis of two 9,000-year-old human skeletons found off the coast of Israel reveal that the Neolithic people were infected with tuberculosis, making them the earliest known TB cases to be confirmed with genetic testing. The bone discovery contradicts the long-held theory that human TB evolved from cattle strains around the time of animal domestication, says [study coauthor] Helen Donoghue…. Rather, high population densities could have made it easier for the disease to spread [New Scientist].

The skeletons of a mother and child were found amidst other artifacts of a Neolithic village, called Atlit-Yam, which is now covered by the Mediterranean Sea. A roughly 25-year–old mother had apparently passed on the bacterial infection to her 1-year–old child, after which they both died and were buried together…. Salt water, sand and clay had covered the bodies, providing excellent conditions for bone preservation. Atlit-Yam was located within a coastal marshland before its immersion by the rising ocean [Science News].

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October 15th, 2008 Tags: , ,
by Eliza Strickland in Health & Medicine, Human Origins | 1 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

Controversial Study Links IMF Loans to a Rise in Tuberculosis Deaths

chest xray TB clinicA new study has found that countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union that accepted International Monetary Fund loans in the 1990s had an  immediate increase in tuberculosis cases, and more people died from the disease. The study’s authors argue that the strict conditions of the loans, which often call for “austerity measures,” may have caused governments to slash health services, thus bringing about the surge in TB cases.

The fund strongly disputes the finding, saying the former communist countries would be much worse off without the loans. “Tuberculosis is a disease that takes time to develop,” said William Murray, a spokesman for the fund, “so presumably the increase in mortality rates must be linked to something that happened earlier than I.M.F. funding. This is just phony science” [The New York Times].

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July 22nd, 2008 Tags: , ,
by Eliza Strickland in Health & Medicine | 3 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >