ArticleAmerican journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council2020
Relationship of sanitation, water boiling, and mosquito nets to health biomarkers in a rural subsistence population.
Article in American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Blood Pressure Changes During Aging and Menopause Among Forager-Horticulturalists in the Bolivian Amazon.American journal of biological anthropology · 2026Article
- Water Insecurity Is Associated with Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption in a Small-Scale Population in Lowland Bolivia Experiencing Lifestyle Changes.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2026Article
- Segmentation and morphometry of intracranial internal carotid artery calcification in relation to brain atrophy.Neuroradiology · 2026Article
- Ectopic adipose tissue in subsistence populations with minimal coronary disease, large left atria, and very low rates of atrial fibrillation.American journal of preventive cardiology · 2025Article
- Inflammaging is minimal among forager-horticulturalists in the Bolivian Amazon.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Childhood skeletal lesions common in prehistory are present in living forager-farmers and predict adult markers of immune function.Science advances · 2025Article
- Higher blood lipid levels after the transition to menopause in two forager-horticulturalist populations.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2025Article
- Increases in regional brain volume across two native South American male populations.GeroScience · 2024Article
- Poor Oral Health Is Associated With Inflammation, Aortic Valve Calcification, and Brain Volume Among Forager-Farmers.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2024Article
- When the flood passes, does health return? A short panel examining water and food insecurity, nutrition, and disease after an extreme flood in lowland Bolivia.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2023Article
- Associations of Boiled Water and Lifespan Water Sources With Mortality: A Cohort Study of 33,467 Older Adults.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- The embodiment of water insecurity: Injuries and chronic stress in lowland Bolivia.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2021Article
- Article
- High prevalence of sternal foramina in indigenous Bolivians compared to Midwest Americans and indigenous North Americans (sternal foramina in indigenous Bolivians).Anatomical science international · 2021Article
- Article
- Helminth infection is associated with dampened cytokine responses to viral and bacterial stimulations in Tsimane forager-horticulturalists.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2021Article
- Rapidly declining body temperature in a tropical human population.Science advances · 2020Article
- Transmission-dynamics models for the SARS Coronavirus-2.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2020Review
- Voluntary collective isolation as a best response to COVID-19 for indigenous populations? A case study and protocol from the Bolivian Amazon.Lancet (London, England) · 2020Article
- Evidence for height and immune function trade-offs among preadolescents in a high pathogen population.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThroughout human evolutionary history, parasites and pathogens were a major cause of mortality-modern urban life with public health infrastructure has changed disease exposure. We examine associations between boiling water, using latrines, mosquito net usage, and biomarkers among the Tsimane, a nonindustrial subsistence population with little public health infrastructure.
methodsWe conducted cross sectional surveys on water, latrines, and bed nets among 507 heads of households (aged 18-92 years, median age 41 years). Regression models estimated associations between behaviors and health biomarkers (ie, white blood cell count [WBC], hemoglobin, eosinophil count, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate) adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, wealth, schooling, and distance to the nearby market town.
resultsLatrine use is associated with 6.5% lower WBC count (β = -679.6, P = .031, SE = 314.1), 17.4% lower eosinophil counts (β = -244.7, P = .023, SE = 107.2), and reduced odds of eosinophilia (adjusted OR = 0.40, P < .019, 95% CI = 0.18-0.86). Boiling water and mosquito net use are not significantly associated with any biomarkers measured.
conclusionsIn a subsistence population currently undergoing epidemiological transition, we find that latrine use was associated with several objective measures of health. This suggests that relatively low cost and low maintenance public health interventions may wish to focus on latrine use, as there is unmet need and potential health benefits for those who use latrines. Additionally, while the cost is higher, public health organizations aimed at improving sanitation may be able to use minimally invasive field-collected biomarkers as a diagnostic to objectively test the efficacy of interventions with greater specificity than anthropometric measurements.
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