Plague survivors had higher incomes and ate more calorific food
According to scientists, the plague, which killed 60 percent of Europeans, also led to a weakness for harmful food among people, reports “Daily Mail”, quoted by BTA. Experts say that the disease that ravaged Europe in the 14th century changed the composition of bacteria in the human mouth.
The second plague epidemic of the mid-14th century, known as the Black Death, resulted in the death of 60 percent of the people living on the Old Continent, as well as historical changes. According to a scientific study, this epidemic is related to the love of junk food today because of changes in diet and hygiene. Analysis of calcified dental plaque on skeletons shows that the dominant bacteria in the human mouth today is associated with a low-fiber, high-carbohydrate diet.
The research, published in the journal Nature Microbiology, was carried out by scientists from Pennsylvania State University, USA, and the University of Adelaide, Australia. According to the results, the oral microbiome is today associated with chronic diseases, obesity, cardiovascular diseases.
The research team collected material from the teeth of 235 people buried at 27 sites in England and Scotland between 2200 BC and and 1835. 954 microbial species were identified that fell into two distinct bacterial communities. The first is dominated by streptococci, which are commonly found in the mouth of modern humans, and the second by methanobrevibacteria, which are thought to be extinct in healthy humans. The analysis shows that almost 11 percent of the variation can be explained by historical changes, including the plague.
“We know that survivors of the plague epidemic had higher incomes and ate more caloric food. It’s possible that changes in people’s diets also caused changes in the composition of the oral microbiome. This is the first study to show that microbes in the human body may have been influenced by past events such as pandemics,” said Prof Laura Weirick of the University of Pennsylvania, who is one of the study’s authors.
2023-12-17 20:11:00
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