Childhood malnutrition increases the risk of osteoarthritis, according to a 50-year study on elk. This article is published in Ecology Letters.
Osteoarthritis is the result of the degeneration of articular cartilage during the aging process. It mainly affects the knee, hip and spine joints.
The exact reasons for its development are not well understood. The risk factors for this disease include excessive or unusual mechanical stress on the joints, overweight and obesity (because unnecessary kilograms burden the joints), congenital defects in the musculoskeletal system, e.g. congenital hip dysplasia, joint injuries related to, for example, professional sports and diabetes, which accelerates the degradation of cartilage. It is known that there is also a genetic predisposition to the disease.
This disease is the most common cause of disability of the elderly. It manifests itself with aches and pains that make it difficult to perform basic movements such as walking, standing up and sitting down, and limit the activity of patients.
Scientists from Michigan Technological University in 1958 began research on moose from Isle Royale, located on Upper Lake belonging to the complex of five Great Lakes. Together with 400 other islets and the surrounding waters, it is part of the Isle Royale National Park.
The work, in which three generations of scientists participated, involved the study of the skeletons of over 4 people. elk, which mostly fell prey to wolves (the only species of large predator on the island) or a harsh winter.
By the beginning of the second decade of research, scientists already had evidence of osteoarthritis in elk. It is particularly dangerous for animals because it prevents them from escaping or defending (by kicking) against a hunting wolf. The disease therefore has a significant impact on the survival of the moose.
Further observations showed that when the elk population grew, the percentage of animals suffering from arthritis also increased, and when it decreased – a smaller percentage of animals suffered from this disease.
This led researchers to suspect that arthrosis may be related to malnutrition early in life, as a larger elk population is more likely to suffer from a food shortage.
Further analyzes confirmed that malnourished moose in their youth suffer from degeneration of the joints in their old age.
According to the authors of the study, a similar regularity may also apply to people.
According to co-author Dr. Clark Spencer Larsen, an anthropologist at Ohio University, these results shed new light on the causes of the development of arthrosis in our ancestors. Studies of human skeletons from excavations indicate that the condition became more common as the diets of our ancestors became poorer due to the conversion of hunter-gatherer communities to farming the land.
Such changes were documented, for example, in the North American indigenous population in the central areas of the continent 1000 years ago. The incidence of arthrosis increased by 65% among them. with the transition to agriculture and corn growing.
Initially, this increase was attributed to increased stress on the joints due to farming. However, recent research suggests that, like the Isle Royale moose, the main cause may have been nutritional deficiencies early in life, comments the lead researcher Rolf Peterson. As the specialist reminds, childhood malnutrition was common in many primitive human communities and still affects millions of people around the world, so the results of studies on elk may also apply to modern societies. (PAP)