Arthritis, Moose, and Diet

What an unlikely title.

"What is more, the arthritic moose were often small, measured by the length of the metatarsal bone in the foot. Small metatarsals indicate poor early nutrition, and scientists determined that the arthritic moose were born during times when food was scarce, so their mothers could not produce enough milk.

"Dr. Peterson said if the arthritis were caused by excess wear and tear on the moose’s joints, that would have meant that times of food scarcity occurred when the moose were already grown, since the extra wear would have happened to moose walking farther to find edible plants. But the arthritic moose had had plentiful food as adults."

If in fact it's true that arthritis is caused by early nutrition, and is irreversible, that's pretty gloomy news.


(via Instapundit, and right after I make a snarky comment about the NY Times and useful information.)