Vitamin D status in post-medieval Northern England: Insights from dental histology and enamel peptide analysis at Coach Lane, North Shields (AD 1711-1857).

Objectives: The post-medieval period in Europe saw a dramatic increase in metabolic bone disease related to vitamin D deficiency (VDD). Recent paleopathological work has utilized interglobular dentin (IGD) as a proxy for poor vitamin D status during development, while enamel peptide analysis allows the identification of chromosomal sex in non-adult remains. Here we explore the relationship between sex, the presence of IGD, and macroscopic markers of VDD in an industrial era assemblage from Northeast England.

The role of dietary calcium in the etiology of childhood rickets in the past and the present.

For more than two centuries, lack of sunlight has been understood to cause vitamin D deficiency and documented as a primary cause of rickets. As such, evidence of rickets in the archeological record has been used as a proxy for vitamin D status in past individuals and populations. In the last decade, a clinical global consensus has emerged wherein it is recognized that dietary calcium deficiency also plays a role in the manifestation of rickets and classic skeletal deformities may not form if dietary calcium is normal even if vitamin D is deficient.

An image analysis protocol for the quantification of interglobular dentine in anthropological tooth sections.

The histological identification of interglobular dentine (IGD) in archeological human remains with macroscopic evidence of rickets has opened a promising new avenue for the investigation of metabolic disease in the past. Recent paleopathological studies have shown that histological analysis of archeological human teeth may allow the identification of periods of vitamin D deficiency occurring within very narrow developmental  windows, yielding new information on the seasonality or even maternal-fetal transmission of this disease. However, currently available techniques for recording IGD rely on subjective scoring systems or visual estimations, potentially leaving them open to inter and intra-observer error and rendering comparisons of datasets difficult.

Sensationalism and speaking to the public: Scientific rigour and interdisciplinary collaborations in palaeopathology.

Objectives: In this brief communication we discuss issues concerning scientific rigour in palaeopathological publications, particularly studies published in clinical or general science journals, that employ skeletal analysis to elucidate the lives and deaths of historical figures or interpret "mysterious" assemblages or burials. We highlight the relationship between poor methodological rigour and lack of interdisciplinary communication, and discuss how this can result in scientifically weak, sensational narratives being presented to the public.

Conclusions: Although most high profile publications involving analysis of archaeological human remains are methodologically sound and well interpreted, others have suffered from poor scientific rigour stemming from an apparent lack of awareness of anthropological methods and ethics.

Growing up different in Neolithic China: A contextualised case study and differential diagnosis of a young adult with skeletal dysplasia.

This paper presents a case study of a young adult from the late Neolithic Yangshao cultural period site (∼3300-2900 years BC) of Guanjia () located in Henan Province on the Central Plains of China, who has evidence for skeletal dysplasia characterised by proportional stunting of the long bones and a small axial skeleton, generalised osteopenia, and non-fusion of epiphyses. We provide a detailed differential diagnosis of skeletal dysplasia with paediatric onset and conclude that this is likely a form of hypopituitarism or hypothyroidism, an extremely rare finding within the archaeological context. This paper highlights the issues of distinguishing the forms of proportional dwarfism in palaeopathology because of the considerable variation in manifestation of these conditions.

A Brief History of Nutritional Rickets.

Since first described almost a century ago, vitamin D preparations have been successfully used as a public health intervention to prevent nutritional rickets. In this manuscript, we document the periods in history when nutritional rickets was described, examine early efforts to understand its etiology and the steps taken to treat and prevent it. We will also highlight that despite the wealth of historical data and multiple preventative strategies, nutritional rickets remains a significant public health disorder.

Macroscopic features of scurvy in human skeletal remains: A literature synthesis and diagnostic guide.

The past two decades have seen a proliferation in bioarchaeological literature on the identification of scurvy, a disease caused by chronic vitamin C deficiency, in ancient human remains. This condition is one of the few nutritional deficiencies that can result in diagnostic osseous lesions. Scurvy is associated with low dietary diversity and its identification in human skeletal remains can provide important contextual information on subsistence strategy, resource allocation, and human-environmental interactions in past populations.

Scurvy at the agricultural transition in the Atacama desert (ca 3600-3200 BP): nutritional stress at the maternal-foetal interface?

Studies of contemporary populations have demonstrated an association between decreased dietary diversity due to resource scarcity or underutilization and an increase in diseases related to poor micronutrient intake. With a reduction of dietary diversity, it is often the women and children in a population who are the first to suffer the effects of poor micronutrient status. Scurvy, a disease of prolonged vitamin C deficiency, is a micronutrient malnutrition disorder associated with resource scarcity, low dietary diversity, and/or dependence on high carbohydrate staple-foods.

More than metabolic: Considering the broader paleoepidemiological impact of vitamin D deficiency in bioarchaeology.

Vitamin D deficiency has traditionally been viewed as a metabolic bone disease by bioarchaeologists and considered primarily in terms of the development of specific musculoskeletal changes used for diagnosis in paleopathological research. These skeletal manifestations are usually interpreted as representing general ill-health. Clinical research shows that vitamin D is also integral to a number of extra-skeletal physiological processes including immunoregulation, blood pressure homeostasis, cell division, and programmed cell death.