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An Examination of Chronic Alcoholism and Bone Pathology in the Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection

Metzger, Kayla
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1619108037124838

Abstract Details

2021, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Anthropology.
Researchers have examined the potential physical and behavioral effects in individuals diagnosed with alcoholism, a chronic disease in which an individual experiences intense cravings for alcohol, an inability to limit consumption, and a continuation of consumption despite negative legal, professional, interpersonal, or physical consequences (Michael and Bengston, 2018). This study aims to determine whether there are common indicators of pathology and associated morbidity in individuals with a cause of death reported as alcoholism verses those with a cause of death reported as pneumonia, by the presence of fractures, their states of healing, and also dental disease. We use this comparison of samples to assess whether there exists a difference between chronic stressors that affect morbidity verses the swift, fast-acting effects of infectious disease in a skeletal collection predating the advent of antibiotics and vitamin supplementation. This study was conducted using the Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection housed at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the largest historical aggregation of modern human skeletons, comprised of individuals who likely lived through the 1918 Influenza pandemic, national Prohibition, rapid industrialization, and the start of the Great Depression. The results of this study have predominantly corresponded to previous research that examined the association between chronic alcohol consumption and fracture incidence: That chronic alcoholics are more likely to exhibit fractures than the control group, and these fractures are observed most often in the craniofacial region, ribs, upper limb, and vertebrae. There was a statistically significant association between cause of death and fracture incidence (individuals in the alcoholism group were over twice as likely to exhibit a fracture than individuals in the pneumonia group) and the association between ancestry and fracture incidence was also statistically significant (European-derived individuals were almost twice as likely to exhibit a fracture than African-derived individuals in the alcoholism group). There are numerous physiological, environmental, social, and cultural factors that may play a role in alcohol consumption and any resulting physical sequelae, including vitamin and nutrient absorption, social behaviors and lifestyle factors, socioeconomic status, living and working conditions, etc. that must be considered when analyzing the results of this study.
Linda Spurlock (Advisor)
Richard Meindl (Committee Member)
Evgenia Fotiou (Committee Member)
81 p.
Human Remains; Pathology; Physical Anthropology
Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection; Chronic Alcoholism; Physical Anthropology; Skeletal Remains; Osteology; Fracture

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Metzger, K. (2021). An Examination of Chronic Alcoholism and Bone Pathology in the Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1619108037124838

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Metzger, Kayla. An Examination of Chronic Alcoholism and Bone Pathology in the Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection. 2021. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1619108037124838.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Metzger, Kayla. "An Examination of Chronic Alcoholism and Bone Pathology in the Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1619108037124838

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1619108037124838
397
© 2021, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12