occurrence of degenerative joint disease in the radius: analysis

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purpose of the study was to see what differences, if any, existed between the two groups, and what the results might reveal about their activities. Scoring was performed separately for each joint surface based on severity of lipping, porosity, and eburnation. Bridges found that the frequency of DJD was low at the hip, but significantly higher in the shoulder, elbow, and knee for both left and right sides. The hunter-gatherer group showed more cases with moderate to severe DJD than the agriculturalists, although the overall prevalence of DJD in Bridges’ (1991) study was similar in hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists, suggesting similar activities and activity levels. However, there is a potential age bias as the hunter-gatherer sample had older individuals represented. DJD was generally mild in its expression and not as frequent in the Archaic peoples of the Great Lakes (Pfeiffer, 1985), or in CA-ALA-329, a central California prehistoric population studied by Jurmain (1990). However, the variability in DJD expression makes it difficult to assess a direct correlation between the introduction of agriculture and DJD. Other Studies Jurmain (1978) studied degenerative joint disease of the elbow in his study on modern and prehistoric samples of black and white Americans, twelfth century Indians, and Alaskan 17
Eskimos. DJD was studied on the distal humerus, and the proximal ulna and radius. His research is interesting because in addition to describing DJD, he notes that the joints of Eskimos are more frequently and severely involved. Jurmain proposes that higher levels of functional stress may be responsible for increased prevalence in Eskimos, but more data is needed on specific cultural behaviors in order to correlate DJD with Eskimo lifestyle. Since rotation and gliding articulatory movements occur conjointly at the radiohumeral joint, there is increased friction in this part of the elbow; this friction may also correlate with the nature, degree of involvement, and location of DJD. Comparative studies on individuals from a similar time period and geographical area, especially those who share similar cultural behaviors, can give tremendous insight into DJD and its expression. Another considerable research model would be to utilize modern medicine, and employ contemporary studies to isolate specific activities and joints affected by symptoms of DJD. The major disadvantage to this type of study is that x- rays can only provide so much information, and true characteristics of DJD cannot be studied unless conducted postmortem. An example would be to study tennis players and “tennis elbow,” or baseball pitchers and DJD of the shoulder joint. The isolation of these specific activities gives the 18
Page 1 and 2: OCCURRENCE OF DEGENERATIVE JOINT DI
Page 3 and 4: University and students a chance to
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Page 7 and 8: LIST OF FIGURES 3.1 Proximal radius
Page 9 and 10: of DJD, proximal lipping is less fr
Page 11 and 12: frequent and well-known burial prac
Page 13 and 14: Literature Review The Late Woodland
Page 15 and 16: degenerative joint disease. A gener
Page 17 and 18: diarthrodial joints.” In the huma
Page 19 and 20: minimal pitting. Porosity can be di
Page 21 and 22: Jurmain (1999) points out that “i
Page 23 and 24: there is much to be learned from si
Page 25: ound, discrete area of erosion on t
Page 29 and 30: common in the knee. Skeletal distri
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER 2 MATERIALS AND METHODS The
Page 33 and 34: pitting can be difficult to assess
Page 35 and 36: Minimum Number of Individuals CHAPT
Page 37 and 38: Table 3.2. Minimum number of adult
Page 39 and 40: of the test. When the degrees of fr
Page 41 and 42: Figure 3.3. Moderate/Severe pitting
Page 43 and 44: Table 3.5. Proximal lipping and dis
Page 45 and 46: Figure 3.5. Moderate/Severe lipping
Page 47 and 48: Table 3.9. Proximal lipping and dis
Page 49 and 50: Figure 3.7. Eburnation of the joint
Page 51 and 52: Table 3.13. Proximal pitting and di
Page 53 and 54: Table 3.17. Side and pitting on the
Page 55 and 56: the Poole-Rose ossuary sample, DJD
Page 57 and 58: of DJD, a functional or stress rela
Page 59 and 60: This suggests degeneration of the j
Page 61 and 62: the wrist causes increased wear and
Page 63 and 64: CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSIONS The main obje
Page 65 and 66: understanding the diverse etiology
Page 67 and 68: Jurmain RD (1978) Paleoepidemiology
Page 69 and 70: Werner FW, An KN, Palmer AK, and Ch

occurrence of degenerative joint disease in the radius: analysis

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