Jean-Baptiste Charcot, the French Antarctic expedition and scurvy / Jean-Baptiste Charcot, expedição Antártica e escorbuto

During the second expedition to the South Pole, Commander Jean-Baptiste Charcot and some members of the crew of “Pourquoi Pas?” developed symptoms suggestive of scurvy. The clinical picture was totally reversed after dietary changes.

Durante a segunda expedição polar do sul, o comandante Charcot e alguns membros da tripulação do “Porquoi Pas?” desenvolveram sintomas sugestivos de escorbuto. O quadro clínico foi totalmente reversível após modificações da dieta.

Pathoecology and paleodiet in Postclassic: Historic Maya from northern coastal Belize

This paper examines the synergism among diet, disease, and ecology at two related coastal Maya sites in Belize (Marco Gonzalez and San Pedro) for the Postclassic and Historic periods (1350-1650 AD), which immediately follow the Classic period collapse. Stable carbon- and nitrogen-isotope ratios in collagen and stable carbon-isotope ratios in structural carbonate were analysed for bones from 65 humans and a wide variety of faunal species. There are no apparent differences in whole diets or degree of carnivory between individuals with lesions indicative of anemia and those without, but those with lesions appear to have consumed significantly more C4 foods and protein from lower trophic levels. Non-specific infection (periostitis) and vitamin C deficiency (scurvy) are also present in high frequencies and appear to co-occur with lesions indicative of anemia, particularly in childhood. Individuals with scurvy also appear to have consumed significantly more C4 foods than normal individuals. Spondyloarthropathy is common in adults. These findings are discussed in light of: (1) the debate on how anemia versus scurvy are manifest and diagnosed, (2) Spanish ethnohistoric descriptions of the poor state of Maya health at the time of contact, and (3) the Osteological Paradox. We suggest that although this coastal environment exacerbated morbidity because of possible parasitic infection, the inhabitants were probably able to survive physiological stresses better than either their inland contemporaries or their modern counterparts.

Epidemiologia e história de doenças; limites e possibilidades: o caso do escorbuto e da peste de Atenas / Epidemiology and history of diseases; limits and possibilities: the scurvy case and plague of Athens

Contribui para identificaçäo de problemas metodológicos envolvidos na tentativa de utilizaçäo dos métodos e técnicas da história, na pesquisa epidemiológica. Discute aspectos relativos à formaçäo do conceito atual de doença que considera relevante para a constituiçäo de um objeto comum à história e à epidemiologia. Para esta discussäo, utiliza a seleçäo de autores feita por Canguilhemm e se baseia nos pontos principais que este autor discute no seu clássico "O normal e o patológico", por ser provávelmente a obra mais conhecida pelos epidemiologistas em relaçäo ao tema. Procura situar o momento atual da discussäo em ambas as disciplinas, que nos parece permitir a proposta de uma interface. Na epidemiologia, a discussäo do objeto. Na história, as questöes metodológicas envolvidas em tratar a doença como objeto, especialmente, o problema das fontes de informaçäo. Os dois últimos capítulos constituem exercícios onde procura exemplificar possibilidades e limites atuais desta atividade interdisciplinar.