Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease by 3000 year old Life Style

Could our the lifestyle of our ancestors 3000 years ago teach us how to prevent Coronary Heart Disease now?  Some people, physical anthropologists, think it is possible.  Evidence from previous studies of the bones and teeth of people from pre-agricultural times suggests that people grew taller, were healthier and lived longer.

Studies suggest that when cheap carbohydrates in the form of grains became available, people moved into more dense population centers.  The waste from humans and animals subjected people to diseases they were protected from in previous times and also made it possible for certain animal illnesses like influenza to mutate and jump to humans causing pandemics.  The study of bones an teeth show that there was a lack of vitamin B12 and Iron in the agricultural diet preventing full development of the children raised in this environment.

One study showed that in two different villages of the same period in Northern Kentucky, one agricultural and one of hunter-gatherers, that the hunters suffered retardation of bone growth from starvation at regularly spaced intervals.  This probably represented winter.  The agricultural village had more tooth decay, and their bones showed more periods of slowed bone growth and more irregular intervals probably reflecting drought, crop failures as well as winter time starvation.

A study of an ancient culture of foragers in Bolivia called the Tsimane, is underway with some interesting findings. No heart disease. Many live into their late 60’s and 70’s. It appears the most common cause of death is infection.  There seems to be a chronic state of infection throughout their lives that eventually breaks down their immune system late in life but not much earlier than many people in the United States. To learn more about this study go to this link.

Researchers that have ongoing studies related to research on Culture and Health are:

Thomas W. McDade PhD Richard Steckel George Amelagos Clark Spencer Larsen

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