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Ancient Teeth Bacteria Record Disease Evolution
An anonymous reader writes "DNA preserved in calcified bacteria on the teeth of ancient human skeletons has shed light on the health consequences of the evolving diet and behavior from the Stone Age to the modern day. The ancient genetic record reveals the negative changes in oral bacteria brought about by the dietary shifts as humans became farmers, and later with the introduction of food manufacturing in the Industrial Revolution."
We eat sugar and complex carbs more than most animals and these tend to cause tooth decay. When you're a wolf who only eats protein it isn't a problem.
It would be interesting to study dental health across humans with various diets i.e. vegetarians, vegans, etc.
Just another way of McDonalds to tell us to eat more meat and less salad.
My dad developed a vertical hairline crack in his front left tooth in his mid 40's, my own front left tooth did exactly the same thing. As for diet my 80yo dad was a war baby, a UK war baby's diet was peculiar, for example he still loves lard* sandwiches if anyone will let him have lard (Yuck!!). Thing is I was raised in Australia on a combination of traditional northern English "cuisine" and burnt offerings in tomato sauce from the backyard barbie. I ate the same as my parents, dad smoked like a chimney into his late 50's. As an ex-taxi driver I'm confident when I say they are both very healthy and active for their vintage, one indication is both of them can still drive, another is that they are still spending my inheritance on annual holidays to exotic lands.
*lard = solidified fat from the bottom of the roasting pan
Disclaimer: I realize diet is important but I think people get a little too OCD about it. For example, my ex-wife spent most of the 80's and 90's counting calories, she became that proficient she no longer needed the book. Alas it's now a redundant skill since everything is labeled, and measured in KJ.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
We may have some researchers getting way ahead of their results. The same plentiful, storable food is probably a big reason so many more of today's humans even survive long enough to "suffer" having a less bacteriologically diverse oral ecosystem. (And we also have fluoridated water, which really works quite well.) I would be more careful making comparative value judgments about what is still an interesting finding.
What sibling post said about sugar, plus we stopped eating really coarse food. Eating hard roots will scrub bacterial plaque off your teeth. When we stopped eating as many raw, hard roots, we had to substitute that function with brushing, but it seems to be less efficient. Additionally, our jaws are far too short for the number for teeth we have, thus the problems of wisdom teeth, which also pushes the other teeth together, making the room between them harder to clean.
If you had a choice, would you kiss a cave woman (or man) with her/his supposedly lovely oral biodiversity, or a member of the Scope, Colgate, and Oral-B generation? I would bet a lot that, if someone had those oral inventions 7,500 years ago, he/she would have passed on a lot more DNA to future generations.
Plants and animals generally have a lifespan long enough to procreate - then they are a waste.
Human animals are pretty well designed to live to age 30 or 40, maybe 50, then they are a waste. Teeth, bones, whatever, are just not designed to last a whole lot longer. Women show this even more than men. They spend the first ten to fifteen years growing into sexual maturity, they spend the next twenty years or so reproducing, then they face the onset of osteoporosis and a multitude of hormonal problems. Nature simply didn't design us to live forever.
Specifically, on topic, not only do we live longer today, but we don't eat the way nature intended. We put sugar in everything, for starters. Corn syrup, mushy processed foods, foods without their natural enzymes, foods with little if any fiber, foods bleached of their primary nutritional content, foods with artificial junk in them, foods filled with useless and possibly detrimental colorings - the list goes on.
Want to beat the problems we have with our teeth? Get closer to nature. Eat your meats fresh and rare. Eat your veggies raw. Don't eat processed foods. Don't eat sugars and corn syrups. DON'T SLURP ON SWEETENED AND FLAVORED DRINKS ALL DAY LONG!! Those damned drinks are probably the single leading cause of dental problems. Drink your 6 to 12 cups of water throughout the day, and MAYBE have a single flavored drink with your meals, whether that be coffee, a soda, or whatever.
In short, we've outsmarted Mother Nature, we outlive our intended lifetimes, and we fail to care for our teeth properly. It's a wonder that we are keeping our teeth for as long as we do!
And, no, I really don't think that we are going to "evolve" better teeth. We will only keep what we have, for so long as we keep outsmarting Mother Nature. If we lose our edge with technology and modern medicine, then we are going to lose our current life spans, and we'll lose our teeth even sooner.
Now - do you want to compare oral problems with other animals? Read the story of the man eating lions, in the story of 'The Spirit and The Ghost'. As I recall, the elder lion had a broken canine, which was extremely painful. Because it hurt so damned bad to bite through the tough hides of almost any animal, he resorted to killing soft skinned people. Apparently, people aren't the tastiest game available to lions, but they are among the easiest to kill. One quick chomp on a leg, and they are down, ready to be killed and consumed at leisure. An entire region was terrorized for months because of a lion's dental problems. The younger lion? I think he just followed the elder lion's lead, or something like that. Maybe he was just lazy.
Animals have dental problems, but we generally don't hear them complaining about their teeth.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
"Toothbrushes are likely the #1 reason we don't run around with a mouthful of dentures anymore, and that's just going back a generation or two."
Before sugar we didn't need dentures as our teeth did not rot
"The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
...nice guess, but RTFA and learn a bit of actual dental hygiene. What you eat isn't the problem, it's what it attracts. With the exception of extremely acidic beverages, the food we eat does not directly damage our teeth. Getting lots of calcium is certainly important for preventing osteoporosis, in teeth and elsewhere, but that's the whole story. You can eat as much sugar as you want if you're in a completely sterile environment. It won't hurt you. (Not that such a place exists.)
Every exposed surface both inside and out of the human body is its own little bacterial world. The flora in the intestines have been in the news a lot lately because it's become apparent that some diabetes and obesity cases are tightly linked to disruptions in the compositions of these communities—the wrong bacteria get in and cause trouble.
The big discovery of the story is that the bacteria in the mouth used to be a lot more diverse. Just like the intestines of the obese, agriculture has put our mouths (with very few exceptions like the bushmen and uncontacted peoples) into bad shape. It's not natural for us to even need to brush our teeth—note no other animal doing this.
I also think you've misrepresented life expectancy a little by componentizing things... as well as being a tiny bit low numerically. The wealthy in ancient Greece averaged about 70 years, without anything resembling sanitation, and the average Roman commoner made it to 45. It's true that some components stop functioning earlier, but that doesn't mean Mother Nature would disapprove of us pushing past it. Many of the changes the occur in middle age can have positive outcomes on the social group by encouraging the individual to focus on other aspects of life, primarily looking after the family or tribe.
Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
My dad developed a vertical hairline crack in his front left tooth in his mid 40's, my own front left tooth did exactly the same thing. As for diet my 80yo dad was a war baby, a UK war baby's diet was peculiar, for example he still loves lard* sandwiches if anyone will let him have lard (Yuck!!).
In Poland they call it smalec and its absolutely delicious on bread with some sour gherkins. The best smalec has crunchy bits of pork scratchings too. Fat with embedded fat. Totally delicious.
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
We don't "evolve" or "are designed", if increased our odds to survive and procreate, then it probably is there. But is too close in time when we developed farming to make a difference in population, and for refined sugar diet, it even coincided with our increased lifespan because other factors, so won't become an evolutionary factor unless civilization falls and then refined sugar won't matter anyway (unless we improve our own genetic code, we are in the right moment for that).
In the other hand, what can evolve to adapt to our new diet is our bacterial associates, and did, for the worse, as said the linked article. And we probably are adding more negative factors to that evolution with oral antibiotics and antibacterial toothpastes. If ever those bacterias had a positive action in our health (i.e. preprocessing food that we can't, or stopping others) we are making sure that it won't be there anymore, and whatever remains, will be hard to kill.
Bah, my teeth aren't too bad. Except every time I go to a new dentist, he offers to pull my wisdom teeth. I'm 40 and have 32 teeth. Zero cavities, zero dental work.
Learn to love Alaska
Depends on the coarse food. I've seen some people with absolutely destroyed teeth due to chewing tough sugar cane. (The sugar probably doesn't help, but by itself I don't think it accounts for incisors which are as pointed as canines).
shall be to return to the ways of the past. Stop the brushing. Lets get out our raw meat and vegetables, and slowly revive those bacteria populations ...
I shall call it the Bacteriophilic Trials of the 22nd Century.
Maybe they will now find that mysterious 5th dentist that would not reccomend Trident Sugarless Gum.
Sanity is the trademark of a weak mind. -- Mark Harrold
Aside from dietary difference, we live longer than our teeth evolved to last. Old pets (dogs for example) have similar problems.
But of course eating to much starch or sugar isn't helpful either.
Weston A. Price already did. Check out 'Nutrition and Physical Degeneration' for a first hand account of what happens when previously 'primitive' societies are introduced to refined flour and sugar.
Not necessarily. Being alive (and relatively fit) when your grandchildren are born might increase their chances of survival and therefore the probability of your genes being passed on to the next generations. After all you are the only backup plan in case something happens to the parents.
However, I totally agree on your views regarding the human diet. I try to eat paleo whenever I can.
I don't read replies by ACs.
Link to the source, not some asshole plagiarising it to get ad hits.
Dogs and cats have tooth decay too, ask any vet. Even if they haven't been given sweets by foolish owners. Wild animals with serious tooth problems are soon dead.
I find the current obsession with Paleolithic Diet and all that it implies disturbing.. so much so I'm keen to smack some of its adherents in the head with a club.. or at least a large animal bone.
I think people get a little too OCD about it.
The most healthy man I've ever known ate fatback, lard, butter and scrambled pig brains like they were going out of style. He lived to be 102.
The most sickly man I've ever known ate wheat testicles, oat scrotums, tofu ice cream, and tons of herbal supplements. He's always sick. Maybe it's the oat scrotums.
why do humans have more oral problems compared to other species in nature?
What evidence do you have that this is true? Wild animals with significant problems with their teeth/mouth die in short order, humans get it treated and live on.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
Just curious, "enemy" of what? Keeping slim? Keeping healthy? Dental health? other?
Most mammals live for a billion (10^9) heartbeats, humans live about 60 years, twice as long. One theory is the Grandmother Effect. That is having older women share the burden of childrearing aided in the children's survival.
Apparently the jaw size problem is relatively recent and caused by the use of cutlery! Don't understand how or why myself... perhaps we should all eat food with our hands until we reach maturity?
TFA doesn't really say anything about efficiency of oral hygiene, just that oral flora has become less diverse. I doubt eating coarse roots is more efficient than electric toothbrushes and chewing gum and all the other marvels of the modern age. If my assertion is correct and as you postulate that biodiversity is somehow affected by hygiene practices, this should have resulted in an increased biodiversity of the mouth, but that is apparently not the case (unless we are too effective these days).
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That's because the idea that fat is bad for you is bullshit. Google the Seven Countries Study that was carried out by Ancel Keys. He cherry picked the data to fit his hypothesis, rather than doing any actual science.
which is totally what she said
I should point out that transfats (in some types of processed food) and hydrogenated fats (margarine) have been scientifically proven to be bad for you. But saturated fat hasn't.
Transfats do exist in nature, but we mostly get them from processed foods. From the wikipedia article: "They can only be made by cooking with a very high heat, at temperatures impossible in a household kitchen." So frying isn't bad for you either.
which is totally what she said
That's why I like to save a carrot for after meals.
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
You do know some of us are just born with incisors like that right? Well, at least lateral ones.
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
Do you have citation for us living longer or are you just spreading nonsense that you've never bothered to check? Try reading some aristotle and find out how wrong you are.
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
That's because the first man ate whole natural foods. The second man ate processed man made foods. It's not rocket science, really.
Aristotle was contemporary with cavemen, and their ancestors? Really? I had always suspected that Aristotle was a "modern man". Geez - maybe you have a citation to offer, of your own?
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Life tip for ya: generally, it's more helpful to present your evidence, rather than just question something with a vague notion.
Life tip for ya: don't be a whiny ape that wants everything handed to them on a silver platter, you'll learn more that way.
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
Hormonal problems in women are diet related, don't extrapolate western data(i.e., US centric) to other pops.
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=were+cavemen+human%3F
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
The most healthy man I've ever known ate fatback, lard, butter and scrambled pig brains like they were going out of style. He lived to be 102.
The most sickly man I've ever known ate wheat testicles, oat scrotum, tofu ice cream, and tons of herbal supplements.
You might be interested in these two videos (they're both 1.5 hours long, but really informative):
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
I should point out that transfats (in some types of processed food) and hydrogenated fats (margarine) have been scientifically proven to be bad for you. But saturated fat hasn't.
You might be interested in these two videos (they're both 1.5 hours long, but really informative):
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
*lard = solidified fat from the bottom of the roasting pan
That's dripping. It still has a lot of meat flavour in it. Lard is the purified fat, never heard of anyone enjoying a sandwich of that.
Many years ago (maybe 15) I read in New Scientist about a group in Sweden that had genetically engineered some mouth bacteria to hunt down and exterminate the bad bugs that cause tooth decay. One rinse of their mouthwash and you could kiss goodbye to the dentist forever.
I've never heard any more about it though, and I don't have access to the New Scientist archives, sadly.
Depending on what part of the pig it's from, lard can retain a certain delicious porky flavor. I wouldn't eat a sandwich of it, but spreading it on bread like butter? Sure, I could do that.
Your right, I used "lard" because I thought a "dripping butty" was something only Northern Englishmen had heard of. :)
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Ah well, by some definitions I am a Northern Englishman :-) My Dad is from the South though, and he too has fond memories of dripping butties. Considering the post-war diet it probably was quite a treat.
why do humans have more oral problems compared to other species in nature?
Could it be because we live longer than other species? By the time I had my first cavity my dog was dead.
It's not even clear that we have more oral problems than other species. My current cat has serious dental disease. And elephants, if they aren't killed by us or disease, usually die indirectly of dental deterioration; their teeth wear out, then can no longer chew, and they die of starvation. Usually around the age of 60.
we still like lard butties in the north (of england)
Regards Eion MacDonald
"Animals have dental problems, but we generally don't hear them complaining about their teeth." /.
You can speak to them! Your skills are wasted on
Regards Eion MacDonald
Interesting fact: Elephants have six sets of teeth in their lifetime. I believe I once read that once elephants teeth are done being produced, they generally starve to death. That would make you correct when you say that they die when their teeth wear out.
Correct; In the wild each set of teeth lasts about 10 years, because there's a lot of silica in the grasses that are an elephant's primary diet. Elephants in captivity can live longer because their diet is less abrasive to their teeth.