Italian Skeletons Reveal Old World Diseases

Discovery News ^ | 4-13-2004 | Rossella Lorenzi

[blam]

Might this data support the possibility of trips to the Americas before Columbus?

[farmfriend]

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[EggsAckley]

The examination of the Italian skeletons also dismissed the hypothesis that the demise of the Roman Empire was related to lead poisoning.

I am a firm believer that the demise of the Roman Empire was due to the centuries/generations of in-breeding. They just got weaker genetically and weirder mentally. Perhaps this was also the cause of Egypt's disappearance. On a positive note, the Islamists are still avidly practicing in-breeding; perhaps that will finally resolve the problem with this troublesome sector of the human race.

[blam]

[blam]

"Perhaps this was also the cause of Egypt's disappearance."

Nah, It was a meteor shower, see post #15 & 16 on the thread linked below. This incident probably ended Sodom & Gomorra and provided the fireworks described in Revelations.

Disaster That Struck The Ancients

[TopQuark]

What a eugenic thing to say!

At the turn of XX century, Germany was the most civilized and elightened nation, and then turned into the most barbaric within one generation. The point is that ideas change much more rapidly than genetic code, and it is people's ideas and values that determine the actions they choose.

[EggsAckley]

Interesting thread. Thanks for the link. Will be doing more reading on this topic.

[Renfield]

I hope that both of you are joking. Excessive taxation, official corruption, loss of cultural integrity, and loss of agricultural productivity due to soil erosion and salination in the grain-supplying areas of North Africa were the major causes. A series of barbarian invasions provided the coup de gras, but the empire was already weak, decadent, and spindly by that time.

[EggsAckley]

Well, I, for one, was not joking, and I'm pretty sure that blam was not either.

How about you provide some documentation for YOUR version of what happened?? Or maybe YOU'RE joking...........

[curmudgeonII]

I've never read anyplace else that lead causes gout.

[lizma]

Hippocrates documented syphilis in Greece and skeletons of children in Pompeii show evidence of congenital syphilis.

Maybe this is a question of who brought it to the New World in the first place, eh?

The rheumatoid arthritis claim is also a stretch since to this day the cause is unknown. No one yet, as far as I know, has been able to link it to an infectious agent.

[lizma]

Lead causes destruction of kidney tissue that will lead to retention of uric acid, gout.

[nightdriver]

It's not called "Montezuma's Revenge" for nothing!

[blam]

"Well, I, for one, was not joking, and I'm pretty sure that blam was not either."

I'm not either, I'm a catastrophist and I believe Renfield is some sort of soil scientist. (...or something along that line.)

[blam]

"I've never read anyplace else that lead causes gout."

""Lead causes destruction of kidney tissue that will lead to retention of uric acid, gout."

I always thought the lask of iodine caused gout. Hmmmm

[Hank Kerchief]

Gout is a systemic disease caused by the buildup of uric acid crystals in the joints of the body, causing inflammation, swelling and pain ...

Hank

[Polybius]

I always thought the lask of iodine caused gout.

No, that would be "goiter", not gout.

[lizma]

I bet your thinking goiter.

Gout is a disease where uric acid builds up in the joints and causes swelling and pain. Usually attributed to a diet rich in red meat, dairy, and internal organs.

It may not have been seen in Romans because their diet was much more based on grain, fowl and fish. Even if they had kidney damage with a diet low in uric acid they may not have developed gout.

From what I've read, large amounts of lead have been found in the remains of Romans dependent on a lead plumbing system.