This study clarifies the causes of the repetitive occurrences of such phenomena as rinderpest, epidemic, famine, and tiger disasters recorded in the Joseon Dynasty Chronicle and the Seungjeongwon Journals in the period of great catastrophe, the late 17th century in which the great Gyeongsin famine (1670~1671) and the great Eulbyeong famine (1695~1696) occurred, from the perspective that they were biological exchanges caused by the new arrival of rinderpest in the early 17th century. It is an objection to the achievements by existing studies which suggest that the great catastrophes occurring in the late 17th century are evidence of phenomena in a little ice age. First of all, rinderpest has had influence on East Asia as it had been spread from certain areas in Machuria in May 1636 through Joseon, where it raged throughout the nation, and then to the west part of Japan. The new arrival of rinderpest was indigenized in Joseon, where it was localized and spread periodically while it was adjusted to changes in the population of cattle with immunity in accordance with their life spans and reproduction rates. As the new rinderpest, which showed high pathogenicity in the early 17th century, was indigenized with its high mortality and continued until the late 17th century, it broke out periodically in general. Contrastively, epidemics like smallpox and measles that were indigenized as routine ones had occurred constantly from far past times. As a result, the rinderpest, which tried a new indigenization, and the human epidemics, which had been already indigenized long ago, were unexpectedly overlapped in their breakout, and hence great changes were noticed in the aspects of the human casualty due to epidemics. The outbreak of rinderpest resulted in famine due to lack of farming cattle, and the famine caused epidemics among people. The casualty of the human population due to the epidemics in turn led to negligence of farming cattle, which constituted factors that triggered rage and epidemics of rinderpest. The more the number of sources of infection and hosts with low immunity increased, the more lost human resources and farming cattle were lost, which led to a great famine. The periodic outbreak of the rinderpester along with the routine prevalence of various epidemics in the 17thcentury also had influenced on domestic and wild animals. Due to these phenomenon, full-fledged famines occurred that were incomparable with earlier ones. The number of domestic animals that were neglected by people who, faced with famines, were not able to take care of them was increased, and this might have brought about the rage of epidemics like rinderpest in domestic animals like cattle. The great Gyeongsin and Eulbyeong famines due to reoccurrence of the rinderpest in the late 17th century linked rinderpester, epidemics and great famines so that they interacted with each other. Furthermore, the recurring cycle of epidemics-famines-rinderpest-great famines constituted a great cycle with synergy, which resulted in eco-economic-historical great catastrophes accompanied by large scale casualties. Therefore, the Gyeongsin and Eulbyeong famines occurring in the late 17th century can be treated as events caused by the repetition of various periodic disastrous factors generated in 1670~1671 and in 1695~1696 respectively, and particularly as phenomena caused by biological exchanges based on rinderpester., rather than as little ice age phenomena due to relatively long term temperature lowering.
Animals ; Cattle ; Communicable Diseases/epidemiology/etiology/*history ; Epidemics/*history ; History, 17th Century ; Korea/epidemiology ; Population Dynamics ; Rinderpest/epidemiology/*history/virology ; Starvation/epidemiology/etiology/*history ; Tigers/physiology

Objective: To study the relations between famine exposure and the risk of chronic diseases as diabetes mellitus, obesity, hypertension, coronary heart disease and stroke in the population of Harbin. Methods: Our data was collected from the baseline survey-the China Kadoorie Biobank project (CKB) in Harbin. Retrospective cohort study design was used. Related risks on chronic diseases including diabetes mellitus, obesity, hypertension, coronary heart disease and stroke, were compared among the famine exposed or non-exposed people, respectively by logistic analysis method. Results: After adjusted for factors as age, sex, physical activity, smoking, alcohol intake, diet, family history of diseases, it appeared that the factor 'famine exposure' had increased the risks of diseases as obesity (OR=1.204, 95%CI: 1.104-1.313, P<0.01), hypertension (OR=1.315, 95%CI: 1.210-1.429, P<0.01) and coronary heart disease (OR=1.495, 95%CI: 1.369-1.632, P<0.01). The lower the age of population being exposed to famine, the greater the risk of the development of all kinds of chronic diseases. Conclusions: Famine exposure appeared a risk factor for obesity, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. It is of great significance to ensure the life-long nutrition of the people, especially in the early and adolescent stages, to prevent obesity, hypertension, and coronary heart disease in their later lives.
Adolescent ; China/epidemiology* ; Chronic Disease/epidemiology* ; Coronary Disease/epidemiology* ; Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiology* ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension/epidemiology* ; Obesity/epidemiology* ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Starvation/epidemiology*

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of famine-experience during early life on diabetes mellitus and impaired fasting glucose in the adulthood.

METHODSIn a total of 101 510 employees who took part in the health examination at the Kailuan Group between 2006 to 2007 were recruited. All the study subjects were born in Hebei province between 1956-10-01 and 1964-09-30 but those who had incomplete data were excluded. 19 347 subjects were finally included for analysis. Members from the famine-exposed group were born between Oct. 1, 1959 and Sep. 30, 1961. There was a semi-exposed group with members born between Oct. 1, 1958 and Sept. 30, 1959 and from Oct. 1, 1961 to Sept. 30, 1962 but members from the control group were born from Oct. 1, 1956 to Sept. 30, 1958 and from Oct. 1, 1962 to Sept. 30, 1964. Prevalence rates on diabetes mellitus and the detection rate of impaired fasting glucose among the three groups were compared. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the effects of famine-experience during early life with the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and the detection rate of impaired fasting glucose during adulthood.

RESULTSPrevalence of diabetes mellitus and the detection rate of impaired fasting glucose in the famine-exposed adult-cohort groups were 8.99%, 8.96% while 8.05% and 9.35% in the semi-exposure groups, 7.71% and 8.20% in the control group. Results from the multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that experiences of famine during early life increased the risk of diabetes mellitus and impaired fasting glucose in adulthood with the odds ratios as 1.218 (95% CI: 1.056-1.404, P = 0.007) and 1.142 (95% CI: 0.994-1.312, P = 0.061). After stratification by sex, odds ratios in males were 1.163 (95% CI: 1.001-1.350, P = 0.048)and 1.213(95% CI:1.039-1.417, P = 0.015). The odds ratios in females were 1.319 (95% CI: 0.920-1.891, P = 0.132) and 0.990 (95% CI: 0.679-1.444, P = 0.959).

CONCLUSIONExperiences of famine during early life increased the risk of diabetes mellitus and impaired fasting glucose in the adulthood. However, this negative effect existed mainly in the males, according to the results from our study.

Adult ; Child ; Child Nutrition Disorders ; epidemiology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; epidemiology ; Female ; Glucose Intolerance ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Nutrition Disorders ; epidemiology ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Maternal Exposure ; Middle Aged ; Starvation

Disasters are emergencies of a severity and magnitude resulting in deaths, injuries, illness and/or property damage that cannot be effectively managed by the application of routine procedures or resources. These events are caused by nature, the result of technological or manmade error. Natural disasters include typhoon, flood, heavy snowfall, drought, famine, and earthquake. Natural disasters are unpreventable and, for the most part, uncontrollable. Technological or manmade disasters include fire, nuclear accidents, bombings, and bioterrorism. The severity of damage caused by natural or technological disasters is affected by population density in disaster-prone areas, local building codes, community preparedness, and the use of public safety announcements and education on how to respond correctly at the first signs of danger. Recovery following a disaster varies according to the public's access to pertinent information, pre-existing conditions that increase or reduce vulnerability, prior experience with stressful situations, and availability of sufficient savings and insurance. Epidemiology can be used to investigate the public health and medical consequences of disasters. The aim of disaster epidemiology is to ascertain strategies for the prevention of both acute and chronic health events. Disaster epidemiology includes rapid needs assessment, disease control strategies, assessment of the availability and use of health services, surveillance systems for both descriptive and analytic investigations of disease and injury, and research on risk factors contributing to disease, injury, or death. With both disasters and the number of people affected by such events on the increase, the importance of disasters as a public health program is now widely recognized in Korea. The epidemiologists must do their best effort for prevention of disasters.
Bioterrorism ; Bombs ; Building Codes ; Cyclonic Storms ; Disasters* ; Droughts ; Earthquakes ; Education ; Emergencies ; Epidemiology ; Fires ; Health Services ; Income ; Insurance ; Korea* ; Needs Assessment ; Population Density ; Preexisting Condition Coverage ; Public Health ; Radioactive Hazard Release ; Risk Factors ; Starvation