Patterns of anemia and infection from medieval York, England.
An assessment of the presence and patterns of porotic hyperostosis and periosteal reactions in the skeletal population (n = 1,014) from St. Helen-on-the-Walls, York, are used to examine health and disease in urban medieval England. The analyses of these two lesions indicate that 58% of the population display evidence of porotic hyperostosis and that 21.5% of the population display periosteal reactions. Through differential diagnosis it is asserted that porotic hyperostosis is associated with iron-deficiency anemia, and that periosteal reactions may be the result of endemic treponematosis and/or non-specific infection, including parasitic infestation. An association between the presence of remodeled lesions and adulthood is noticeable for both porotic hyperostosis and periosteal reactions, as is a pattern of increased average age at death for those displaying both conditions.
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Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Loyola University of Chicago, Illinois 60626.
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history; D000886:Anthropometry; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D015576:Hyperostosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history; D009026:Mortality; D010163:Paleontology; D014505:Urban Population