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To: fork@spamassassin.taint.org
Subject: Re: Infectious disease (was Re: Al'Qaeda's fantasy ideology)
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From: harley@argote.ch (Robert Harley)
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Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 06:11:19 +0200 (CEST)

James Rogers wrote:
>[...] As I understand it, there is a growing body of genetic evidence
>that European immune systems are substantially tougher and more
>resistant to a wider range of infectious diseases than those found in
>other peoples around the world, [...]
>
>The standard theory for this is that Europe was the first major region of
>the planet to become densely populated and urbanized (to the extent that
>they "urbanized" a thousand years ago).  [...]

Another theory is that Europe was a rural backyard until the Renaissance,
certainly when compared to big urban centres like Constantinople and Baghdad.

I don't know the genetic studies of which you speak, but I know of one that
is sort-of relevant: apparently men of Ashkenazi descent are susceptible
to sickle-cell anemia and the probable reason is that the same genetic
factor that causes that also protects women from tuberculosis (IIRC), which
would have come in handy in central European towns at a time when the Jewish
population was a lot more urbanised than average Joes.

R
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