Reconstructing the history of helminth prevalence in the UK.

Intestinal helminth parasites (worms) have afflicted humans throughout history and their eggs are readily detected in archaeological deposits including at locations where intestinal parasites are no longer considered endemic (e.g. the UK).

Epidemiological insights from a large-scale investigation of intestinal helminths in Medieval Europe.

Helminth infections are among the World Health Organization's top neglected diseases with significant impact in many Less Economically Developed Countries. Despite no longer being endemic in Europe, the widespread presence of helminth eggs in archaeological deposits indicates that helminths represented a considerable burden in past European populations. Prevalence of infection is a key epidemiological feature that would influence the elimination of endemic intestinal helminths, for example, low prevalence rates may have made it easier to eliminate these infections in Europe without the use of modern anthelminthic drugs.

ERA Merewether - And asbestos.

After a succession of posts and studying for the Bar, Edward Merewether joined the Medical Inspectorate of Factories in 1927. Not long thereafter he was asked to undertake a study of the effects of asbestos exposure on the lungs. His results showed that asbestos workers had a significant risk of developing pulmonary fibrosis and this resulted in the promulgation of regulations to limit exposure.

Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy in an adult macaque.

Objective: To evaluate through differential diagnosis whether hypertrophic osteoarthropathy was present on an adult macaque skeleton.

Materials: Skeletal remains of a well-preserved adult macaque (Macaca) of unknown species curated by the archaeology department at University College London.

Methods: Macroscopic and radiographic evaluation of pathological lesions.

SCJ osteoarthritis: The significance of joint surface location for diagnosis.

An evaluation of the method used to diagnose sternoclavicular joint (SCJ) osteoarthritis (OA) in skeletal remains is presented, with particular attention given to the anatomy of the joint. The current palaeopathological diagnostic criteria used to identify SCJ OA were found to be appropriate for both the sternal and clavicular surfaces of the SCJ, with eburnation indicating perforation of the intra-articular disc and advanced disease. Eburnation was found to occur rarely in the SCJ, and if used as the sole diagnostic criterion would result in an underestimation of SCJ OA prevalence in archaeological assemblages.

Sibyl Horner, Sydney Alexander Henry, and occupational skin disease.

Occupational skin disease was, and remains, a major cause of morbidity, accounting for many thousands of hours lost from work each year. Investigating the causes, and seeking preventive measures, occupied much of the time of the early Medical Inspectors of Factories. Two of the inspectors, Sydney Henry and Sibyl Horner, became specialists in certain types of skin disease.

Extensive periosteal new bone formation in a skeleton from post-Medieval Chichester, England: A probable case of metastatic prostatic carcinoma.

An elderly male skeleton from a site in Chichester, UK, was found with a widespread periosteal reaction, principally affecting the axial skeleton and the pelvis. Radiography showed the presence of sclerosing infiltrates, mainly involving the lumbar vertebrae and pelvis. The differential diagnosis is discussed, reaching the conclusion that hypertrophic osteo-arthopathy (HOA) is the only reasonable alternative condition likely to produce such a widespread periosteal reaction as found here.

Edgar Leigh Collis: Industrial lung disease and ergonomics.

Edgar Collis was appointed as the second Medical Inspector of Factories in 1908, holding the post until the outbreak of the First World War when he became Medical Director of the Ministry of Munitions. After the war, he was appointed to the chair in public health in the University of Wales. He held this post while living in Lossiemouth in Scotland, some 570 miles distant.

On the importance of considering disease subtypes: Earliest detection of a parosteal osteosarcoma? Differential diagnosis of an osteosarcoma in an Anglo-Saxon female.

A case of potentially dedifferentiated parosteal osteosarcoma was found in the proximal humerus of an adult female buried in the late Anglo-Saxon cemetery of Cherry Hinton, Cambridgeshire, UK. Key features include a large, dense, lobulated mass attached to the medial metaphysis of the proximal humerus by a broad-based attachment, accompanied by cortical destruction and widespread spiculated periosteal reaction. Radiographic images confirm medullary involvement, lack of continuity between the cortex and external mass, a radiolucent cleavage plane and possible radiolucent zones within the bony masses.

Case report: A giant calcified uterus, likely due to benign leiomyoma.

During the 2011 excavation of the site of St. Michael's Litten, in Chichester, England, a female skeleton, dating to the post-Medieval period (1550-1850), with a large, unidentified pelvic mass was uncovered. The mass measured 16.

Henry Moon and his molars.

Henry Moon qualified in London in medicine and dentistry, emigrated to New Zealand, eventually returning to London. He is known for his observations of the malformation of tooth cusps in children with congenital syphilis.

Crooked Timber: The life of Calvin Wells (1908-1978).

Calvin Wells was the leading palaeopathologist in the UK between the later 1950s and the early 1970s. He studied medicine at University College London but failed in anatomy and qualified in 1933 with the Conjoint Diploma (MRCS, LRCP). After qualification he began to study obstetrics and after war service in the RAMC he settled in Norfolk (UK), established a small general practice and took up palaeopathology.

Roy Lee Moodie (1880-1934) and the beginnings of palaeopathology.

Roy Lee Moodie was a geologist whose interest in ancient disease was stimulated by his finding of pathological change in some of the fossils that he studied, including many from the Rancho La Brea site in California. He occupied teaching positions in Chicago, Dallas and Santa Monica and in 1928 began an acquaintance and a correspondence with Henry Wellcome who was then in the United States and appearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Moodie persuaded Wellcome to sponsor his palaeopathological work and the following year he was appointed palaeopathologist to the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum (WHMM) at a salary of six thousand dollars a year, the first person to hold such a title and the first and only occupant of the title at the WHMM or its successor organisations.

TMJ osteoarthritis: a new approach to diagnosis.

Disorders of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), including TMJ osteoarthritis (TMJ OA), are the topic of intensive clinical research; however, this is not the case in the archaeological literature, with the majority of work on the subject ceasing with the early 1990s. The methods employed in the diagnosis of TMJ OA within the archaeological work appear nonrepresentative of the disease and may have led to erroneous assumptions about the pattern and prevalence of OA. This current work presents a new method for evaluating OA specifically for the TMJ, considering both the biomechanics of the joint and the mechanisms of the disease.

Apple Down 152: a putative case of syphilis from sixth century AD Anglo-Saxon England.

This report describes a putative case of a treponemal infection observed on a skeleton of a young male adult from the Apple Down Anglo-Saxon cemetery dating to the sixth century AD, accompanied by grave goods indicative of a high status burial. The skeleton is well preserved and almost complete. The pathological evidence includes an extensive area of lytic destruction to the frontal bone of the skull, widespread profuse bilateral symmetrical periosteal reaction affecting scapulae, clavicles, arms, legs, hands, feet and ribs.

Thomas Morison Legge (1863-1932): the first medical factory inspector.

After a brief career in public health, Thomas Morison Legge was appointed to become the first medical factory inspector, in 1898, and remained in post until his resignation in 1927. During his tenure in office he became the leading authority on lead poisoning and anthrax; he resigned when the government refused to ratify the White Lead Convention. Subsequently he became the first medical adviser to the Trades Union Congress.