Patterns of anemia and infection from medieval York, England

Am J Phys Anthropol. 1993 Jun;91(2):203-13. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330910206.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Anemia / epidemiology*
  • Anemia / history
  • Anthropometry
  • Bone and Bones / anatomy & histology
  • Bone and Bones / pathology
  • Communicable Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Communicable Diseases / history
  • England / epidemiology
  • History, Medieval
  • Humans
  • Hyperostosis* / epidemiology
  • Hyperostosis* / history
  • Mortality
  • Paleontology
  • Urban Population*