ИСТИНА

Within the frame of the program of investigation of human adaptation in different ecological conditions, studies of rates of age-specific changes of the hand skeleton in contemporary populations have been performed. The main task of this report is assessment of dynamics of aging of the skeleton depending on social and cultural factors of the environment and some other population characteristics. The following ecological variants were chosen for the study: long-livers; populations with traditional way of life; groups with “modernization” of the traditional culture; migrant population. In total, about 4000 subjects from 24 populations were examined using the roentgenological method. The stidies were conducted based on the original method OSSEO. It has been found out that in populations of long-livers and in groups with stable traditional culture, disharmony of age-specific processes is absent, aging of the skeleton develops slowly. In populations with “modified” traditional culture, in migrants of different time periods, adaptive processes occur with tension. Disturbance of adaptation is activated by changes in the structure and traditions of populations, conflict situations and migration.