古代希腊罗马世界的痴呆症几乎没有被提及
Caleb E Finch1, Stanley M Burstein2
1Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD
|January 26, 2024
概括
在古希腊和罗马,阿尔茨海默氏症和相关痴呆症 (ADRD) 很少被描述,这表明ADRD可能是一种现代疾病. 历史分析表明,环境因素可能导致了它的兴起.
科学领域:
- 医学和哲学文本的历史分析.
- 古代和当代认知健康的比较研究.
背景情况:
- 古代希腊和罗马社会主要关注身体衰老,对高级认知衰退的记录很少.
- 痴呆的概念确实存在,但在古典古代并没有连贯地与衰老联系在一起.
研究的目的:
- 在古希腊罗马文献中调查阿尔茨海默病和相关痴呆症 (ADRD) 的患病率和描述.
- 为了确定严重的认知衰退是否是古代世界公认的疾病.
主要方法:
- 批评希腊罗马作家 (公元前8世纪至公元3世纪) 提到认知衰退的初级文本的批判性评价.
- 排除二次来源以确保直接的文本分析.
主要成果:
- 没有古老的记载与ADRD的现代临床描述精确匹配.
- 虽然注意到一些记忆丧失,但只发现了四例严重的认知损失,可能表明ADRD.
- 古代人群的低患病率与玻利维亚的西马内人群的研究结果一致,这些人群的传染病率很高,心血管疾病很低.
结论:
- 今天看到的高级痴呆症的"流行病"水平,在古希腊罗马老年人群中并不存在.
- 在罗马时代,污染和暴露等环境因素可能与高级ADRD的出现有关.
- 需要进一步的历史研究来探索有关高ADRD患病率现代性的假设.
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