What happens when we’re too connected to our phones?
Some things never change, and that's the case for a number of diseases. Genetic records confirm that many diseases have roots in antiquity, having been around long before they were identified and treatments were discovered. Bone abnormalities and DNA samples of skeletons are strong identification sources, which show us how some of the world's oldest diseases have fundamentally influenced human evolution.
Check out the following slides to discover the oldest known diseases in the world.
One of the world's deadliest known diseases, research suggests that tuberculosis (TB) was present among Paleolithic humans in Africa 70,000 years ago. As people migrated around the world, the disease followed.
By the time the bacterium that causes TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, was discovered by German physician Robert Koch in 1882, it was killing one in every seven people in the US and Europe. Though it's curable today, TB still kills people.
In a 2024 study in the journal Nature, researchers looked at genetic material from ancient human remains from 16 countries. They found malaria in specimens that were over 5,500 years old.
Carried by the female Anopheles mosquito, researchers believe the disease may be even older than originally thought.
Ancient Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen are believed to have referred to an illness that may have been cholera around 400 BCE.
There have also been numerous hints that a cholera-like malady has been well-known in the delta plains of the Ganges River since antiquity. However, the first known cholera pandemic began in 1817 when the disease spread from India to other countries in Asia.
Dental caries, or tooth decay, can lead to cavities, pain, and tooth loss, which is preventable with good oral hygiene and dental care. However, people didn't know that thousands of years ago.
In 2014, a study from London's Natural History Museum looked into a hunter-gatherer society in Morocco, which lived around 15,000 years ago. The skeletal remains at that site showed serious tooth decay.
Although there are a number of known references to leprosy in the Bible, the earliest evidence is a skeleton in India that dates back 4,000 years.
A 2009 study of the skeleton represents both the earliest archaeological evidence of human infection with leprosy in the world and the first evidence of the disease in prehistoric India.
A contagious disease caused by the variola virus, genetic evidence suggests that the smallpox virus emerged 3,000 to 4,000 years ago.
The smallpox vaccine, created by Edward Jenner in 1796, was the first successful vaccine to be developed. Smallpox was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1980.
One of the oldest diseases in the world, a 2016 paper in the South African Journal of Science reported the world's oldest known human malignant tumor on a 1.7-million-year-old bone.
In another study, a 2,250-year-old Egyptian mummy was diagnosed with prostate cancer via a CT scan. He showed signs of lesions in the spine and pelvis, which indicated the cancer had metastasized in his bones.
Lyme disease was first described in 1975, but evidence of it goes way back to the Copper Age, around 5,300 years ago.
The bacterium that causes Lyme's disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, was found in the bones of Ötzi the Iceman, the oldest known European mummy. Ötzi, named after the Ötzal Alps in Italy, where he was found in 1991, died in 3,300 BCE.
Leishmaniasis is an infection that comes from a parasite, which lives inside female sandflies belonging to the genus Phlebotomus. Humans contract it from the sandflies' bites, and cases are most common in tropical and subtropical areas around the world.
A 2006 study examined tissues from 42 ancient Egyptian and Nubian mummies from 2,050 to 1,650 BCE. Researchers discovered the mitochondrial DNA of Leishmania in four of them.
Typhoid fever is a life-threatening infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. It's usually spread through contaminated food or water.
Some historians believe that typhoid fever was responsible for a widespread plague in Athens in 429 BCE, which killed one-third of the population, including the leader at the time, Pericles.
Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs, filling them with fluid or pus. Bacteria, viruses, and fungi, can cause pneumonia.
Hippocrates wrote about pneumonia, calling the disease "peripneumonia." He even described its recognizable symptoms: fever, chest pain, and cough.
Trachoma is an eye disease caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, which can cause blindness or visual impairment.
Frequently documented throughout history, the first description of disease is from 1,500 BCE in the Ebers Papyrus, which is a collection of medical prescriptions found in Egypt.
The first written record of rabies is in the Mesopotamian Codex of Eshnunna, from around 1,930 BCE. It dictates that the owner of a dog showing symptoms of rabies should take preventive measures against the bites.
The best way to avoid rabies today is to keep your distance from wildlife and vaccinate your pets against the disease.
Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMS) is a serious tick borne illness, which can be deadly if not treated early.
RMS was first recognized in 1896 in the Snake River Valley of Idaho. It was originally called "black measles" due to the look of its rash in the late stages of the illness.
Sources: (Mental Floss) (News Medical)
See also: These diseases are making a comeback post-pandemic
The oldest known diseases in the world
These diseases have been around for thousands of years
HEALTH History
Some things never change, and that's the case for a number of diseases. Genetic records confirm that many diseases have roots in antiquity, having been around long before they were identified and treatments were discovered. Bone abnormalities and DNA samples of skeletons are strong identification sources, which show us how some of the world's oldest diseases have fundamentally influenced human evolution.
Check out the following slides to discover the oldest known diseases in the world.