Italian Skeletons Reveal Old World Diseases By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News Columbus: Syphilis Spreader? April 12, 2004 — Researchers investigating Italian cemeteries have found further evidence to confirm that syphilis and rheumatoid arthritis plagued the Americas long before the arrival of Columbus. Involving various sites throughout Italy, the study examined 688 skeletons dating from the Bronze Age to the Black Plague epidemic of 1485-1486. The remains were investigated for the presence of bony alterations characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis, gout, spondyloarthropathy and syphilis-causing organisms, called treponemes. Indeed, syphilis is known to scar and deform bones. Legend holds that Columbus and his...