Posted on 05/30/2014 6:37:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
A new study suggests that people who survived the medieval mass-killing plague known as the Black Death lived significantly longer and were healthier than people who lived before the epidemic struck in 1347.
Caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, the Black Death wiped out 30 percent of Europeans and nearly half of Londoners during its initial four-year wave from 1347 – 1351...
The findings have important implications for understanding emerging diseases and how they impact the health of individuals and populations of people...
She says the Black Death was a single iteration of a disease that has affected humans since at least the 6th century Plague of Justinian...
To better understand those human factors DeWitte has spent the last decade examining the skeletal remains of more 1,000 men, women and children who lived before, during and after the Black Death. The skeletons, maintained in the archives of the Museum of London, were excavated from a handful of well-documented London cemeteries, including St. Mary Spital, Guildhall Yard, St. Nicholas Shambles and St. Mary Graces...
DeWitte's analysis has revealed several important findings. Most notably that:
the 14th-century Black Death was not an indiscriminate killer, but instead targeted frail people of all ages;
survivors of the Black Death experienced improvements in health and longevity, with many people living to ages of 70 or 80 years, as compared to pre-Black Death populations;
improvements in survival post-Black Death didn't necessarily equate to good health over a lifespan, but revealed a hardiness to endure disease, including repeated bouts of plague; and
the Black Death, either directly or indirectly, very powerfully shaped mortality patterns for generations after the epidemic ended.
DeWitte says she was surprised by how much of a change she estimated between the pre- and post-Black Death periods...
(Excerpt) Read more at sc.edu ...
The Black Death helped kill feudalism is western Europe - that alone had to have improved the survivors lives.
ping
Maybe it’s the genetic legacy enjoyed by the survivors of the plague that’s made the US...Canada...Europe...Australia so prosperous.
“Black Death” is racist. The correct term is Unwhite Distress.
Years ago, I was researching my late husband’s ancestors. Some, I found lived during that time. One of the things that really stood out was that whole towns died and no one was left to bury them. I love history and that brought it to life. A very sad time.
I think DeWitte got more than her share of Neanderthal genes.
Nearly incomprehensible figures.
But in all seriousness, I have read among us "global warming" skeptics that the Black Death corresponded with the end of the Medeival Warm Period. A series of colder winters and colder summers led to reduced crop yields and poorer health conditions. The reduced food resources could not support a the population that had grown large during the warm period. Hungry and already weakened by disease, the Black Death cut down the weaker ones.
Just another thing to keep in mind when talking to the AGW crowd.
Interesting. People create super strains of bacteria by using antibiotics. Bacteria creates super strains of people by causing plagues.
You are speaking about the Delta-32 mutation, which affects (now) about ten percent of the population.
It yields white blood cells that have a variation of the membrane that make it impossible for yersina (or hiv) to infect them.
No doubt it was increased by the plague, but I doubt that was the only factor.
Wasn’t Nostradamus already famous for the fact that as a doctor most of his patients survived the Black Death even though his immediate family did not?
His reputation as a prognosticator came only later.
Seems to me that I’ve read reports somewhere that the native American populations were a very healthy looking lot compared the Europeans that first came to the new world.
However, much of the Indian populations of north central and south America —were simply wiped out by new diseases brought over by the Europeans. further the die off so preceded the Europeans that with rare exceptions like in Mexico during the 1530 and 1560’s the Europeans had no knowledge of what happened. and how really big the Indian populations of the Americas were before they were wiped out by disease.
That this complete wipe out never happened in any parts of Africa or Asia. apparently because these populations already had been exposed to European diseases.
That’s humerus.
She looks a bit frail herself...maybe a checkup is perhaps in order?
I was gonna say ...
You’re funny:) A writer per chance?
SO that’s what the kids are calling it now...
The Americas had at least four PreColumbian era population spikes, when the number of people approached the levels of circa 1900 AD; each was followed by a catastrophic falloff. This could have been due to climate, or could have been due to periods of transoceanic contact, or both. What it could *not* have been is the artificial and imaginary “over-specialization” argument that used to be dominant.
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