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Indigenous Health
Research has found that unacculturated indigenous peoples have remarkable health compared to that of assimilated
tribal peoples, peasants, and many city dwellers. In the 1970s, an American team documented the health of the Waorani
at the time of contact. The team found no evidence of hypertension, anemia, heart disease, or cancer. In fact,
the Waorani "ranked as one of the few populations in the world where blood pressure does not increase with
age. The people had practically no internal parasites and virtually no secondary bacterial infections. They had
never been exposed to polio or pneumonia, nor was there any evidence that smallpox, chicken pox, typhus, or typhoid
fever affected the tribe. There was no syphilis, tuberculosis, malaria, or serum hepatitis" (Davis 1996).
However, the Waorani did have their ailments, typically fungal infections, external parasites, and various wounds
from snakebites, burns, spear injuries and the like. Most Waorani were in need of a good dentist and there was
a heavy presence of yellow fever, herpes, and hepatitis B.
Continued: People of the Rainforest
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