Paleopathology Uses Patients from the Past to Investigate Today’s Diseases

Paleopathology has developed from a speculative endeavor—related predominantly to curiosities—to a science, which contributes to our understanding of the past. It can provide insights to improve the future health for the denizens of earth, both animal and vegetal, often despite human interferences.

Dr. Rothschild is professor of medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown, and in the departments of geology and anthropology at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

References

1. Rothschild BM, Schultze H-P, Peligrini R. Herpetological Osteopathology: Annotated Bibliography of Amphibians and Reptiles. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer-Verlag, 2013.
2. Ehrlich GE. Osteoarthritis beginning with inflammation: Definitions and correlations. JAMA. 1975;232:157-159.
3. Waldron HA. Prevalence and distribution of osteoarthritis in a population from Georgian and early Victorian London. Ann Rheum Dis. 1991;50:301-307.
4. Rothschild BM, Martin LD. Skeletal Impact of Disease. New Mexico Museum of Natural History, 2006.
5. Resnick D. Radiology of Bone and Joint Disease. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2002.
6. Hacking P, Allen T, Rogers, J. Rheumatoid arthritis in a medieval skeleton. Intl J Osteoarcheol. 1994;4:251-255.
7. Rogers J, Waldron T, Dieppe P, Watt, I. Arthropathies in palaeopathology: The basis of classification according to most probable cause. J Archaeol Sci. 1987;14:179-193.
8. Ortner DJ, Putschar W. Identification of Paleopathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains. Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, DC, 1985.
9. Rothschild BM, Woods RJ, Ortel W. Rheumatoid arthritis “In the buff”: Erosive arthritis in representative defleshed bones. Amer J Phys Anthropol. 1990;82:441-449.
10. Rothschild BM, Woods RJ. Spondyloarthropathy: Erosive arthritis in representative defleshed bones. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1991;85:125-134.
11. Rothschild BM, Rothschild C. Nineteenth century spondyloarthropathy independent of socioeconomic status: Lack of skeletal collection bias. J Rheumatol. 1993;20:314-319.
12. Rothschild BM. Two faces of “rheumatoid arthritis”: Type A versus type B disease. J Clin Rheumatol. 1997;3:334-338.
13. Aufderheide AC, Rodriguez-Martin C. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, U.K., 1998.
14. Present AJ. Rheumatoid spondylitis. Cal West Med. 1945;63:10-13.
15. Rothschild BM, Woods RJ, Rothschild C, Sebes JI. Geographic distribution of rheumatoid arthritis in ancient North America: Implications for pathogenesis. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 1992;22:181-187.
16. Carr AP, Michels G. Identifying noninfectious erosive arthritis in dogs and cats. Vet Med. 1997;92:804-810.
17. Sikes D. A rheumatoid-like arthritis in swine. Lab Invest. 1959;8:1406-1415.
18. Rothschild BM, Rothschild C, Woods JR. Inflammatory arthritis in canids: Spondyloarthropathy. J Zoo Wildlife Med. 2001;32:58-64.
19. Rothschild BM, Rothschild C. Spondyloarthropathy mammalian as a trans-phenomenon, reproducible in its manifestations across species lines. J Paleopath. 2000;11:103-104.
20. Rothschild BM. Radiologic assessment of osteoarthritis in dinosaurs. Ann Carnegie Museum. 1990;59:295-301.
21. Rothschild BM, Woods RJ, Rothschild C. Calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease: Description in defleshed skeletons. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 1992;10:557-564.
22. Rothschild BM, Yakubov LE. Prospective six month, double-blind trial of hydroxychloroquine treatment of calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease. Contemp Ther. 1997;23:327-331.
23. Peter JB, Pearson CM, Marmor L. Erosive osteoarthritis of the hands. Arthritis Rheum. l966: 9:365-368.
24. Rothschild BM, Molnar RE. Sauropod stress fractures as clues to activity. In: Thunder-lizards. Tidwell V, Carpenter K, eds. Bloomington: Indiana University Press; 2005:381-391.
25. Rothschild BM, Rothschild C. Skeletal manifestations of leprosy: Analysis of 137 patients from different clinical settings in the pre- and post-modern treatment eras. J Clin Rheumatol. 2001;7:228-237.
26. Rothschild BM, Rothschild C. Thermodynamic resolution of periosteal reaction and taphonomic change. Reumatismo. 2003;55:195-201.
27. Heathcote GM, Stodder AL, Buckley HR, et al. Treponemal disease in the Western Pacific: Corrections and critique. Curr Anthropol. 1998;40:359-368.
28. Rothschild C, Rothschild BM. Occurrence and transitions among the treponematoses in North America. Chungara, Revista de Antropologia Chilena. 2000;32:147-155.
29. Rothschild BM, Rothschild C. Analysis of treponemal disease in North Africa: The case for Bejel in the Sudan, but absence in West North Africa. Hum Evol. 1996;11:11-15.
30. Stenn FF, Milgram JW, Lee SL, Weigand RJ, Veis A. Biochemical identification of homogentisic acid pigment in an ochronotic Egyptian mummy. Science. 1977;197:566-568.
31. Stanbury JB, Wyngaarden JB, Fredrickson DS, Goldstein JL, Brown MS. The Metabolic Basis of Inherited Disease. 5th ed. New York, McGraw Hill, 1983.