| Abstract: |
Factors that affect an organism are varied and in terms of Western science can be bren down into six major etiological categories: genetic, nutritional, environmental, psychogenic, iatrogenic, and infectious. This however is an attempt to break down a concept to its simplest form in hopes of finding an all-inclusive answer which is so typical of Western Cartesian thinking. Careful analysis of different types of data available will show, that in nearly every case, more than one factor may be attributed. It is clear that multiple factors (i.e., infection and malnutrition, and to a lesser degree, genetic) were involved to varying degrees in differential health of hunter-gatherers and the upstart agriculturalists. The most difference between these two lifestyles is attributed to nutrition with anemia being the most sited pathology. With the increased alliance on crop farming as the primary source of food, the amount of varied food sources dwindled to cause a decline in certain nutrient such as iron. This decline of certain nutrients caused varying degrees of malnutrition which would have weakened the immune system, and coupled by a less active lifestyle, invited previously less frequent diseases and illnesses.
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