Felicia C Madimenos
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 100188 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Felicia C Madimenos |
| PRENOMES | Felicia C |
| SOBRENOME | Madimenos |
| ASSINATURA | MADIMENOS F C |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Queens College, CUNY |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5442-232X |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 30 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 115 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 30 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2010 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 6 |
Market Integration and Reproductive Transitions Among Indigenous Shuar and Neighboring Nonindigenous Ecuadorians in Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVE: Global reproductive transitions are well documented, yet less is known about how neighboring populations with divergent histories and exposure to market integration (MI) experience them. This study examines how sociocultural and economic proxies of MI predict variation in reproductive outcomes among indigenous Shuar and nonindigenous Ecuadorian mestizos (Colonos) from Amazonian Ecuador, focusing on menarcheal age, age at first birth, p…
Navigating Practical, Political, and Ethical Challenges of Long‐Term Human Biology Field Research
Major advances in understanding human biology and health have been made possible by long‐term field research projects with Indigenous peoples, whose ecological settings and lifeways are distinct from majority populations in high‐income settings. Long‐term fieldwork is central to human biology, yet much about this research approach remains opaque. This paper considers a single long‐term study—the Shuar Health and Life History Project in Amazonian …
Impaired Intestinal Function Among Indigenous Shuar Children of Amazonian Ecuador
Intestinal function appears to be considerably impaired among school-age Shuar children living in a low-resource, rural setting. Children living in unsanitary, non-industrialized contexts may routinely experience intestinal permeability-related immune activation and malabsorption-related energy/nutrient loss. More research is needed to explore the breadth of global variation in children's intestinal function and to investigate its many evolutiona…
Oxidative Stress and Its Relationship With Market Integration and Pathogen Exposure Among Indigenous Shuar Children of Amazonian Ecuador
These findings suggest that MI, including its impact on pathogen exposure and physiology, is an important driver of global variation in childhood OS and related disparities in phenotype and health
Soil‐Transmitted Helminths and the Intricacies of Immunoregulation
OBJECTIVES: The old friends hypothesis (OFH) examines connections between the global increase in immunoregulatory diseases (e.g., allergy and autoimmunity) and reduced exposure to immune-priming symbionts like soil-transmitted helminths. Helminth species, however, vary in their effects on hosts and should be considered separately. We examined relationships between species-specific helminth infection and circulating biomarkers of adaptive immune a…
Somatic Symptoms Are Associated With Elevated Blood Pressure and Epstein–Barr Virus Antibodies Among Shuar of the Ecuadorian Amazon
INTRODUCTION: This study tests the hypothesis that self-reported somatic symptoms are associated with biomarkers of stress, including elevated blood pressure and suppressed immune function, among Shuar adults living in the Ecuadorian Amazon. METHODS: Research was conducted in three Shuar communities in the Upano Valley of the Ecuadorian Amazon and included the collection of biomarkers and a structured morbidity interview. Participants self-report…
Bioethics Recommendations to Increase Culturally Informed Global Health Survey Research
Global health projects—a source of inspiration and collaboration for applied human biology—benefit scholars, governments, NGOs, and aid organizations. While such research is intended to improve population health, direct benefits to individuals and communities are often excluded from published works and/or not considered in study designs and framing. This exclusion is increasingly recognized as a colonial legacy that hinders global health equity, …
Testosterone, 8‐Oxo‐2′‐Deoxyguanosine (8‐OHdG) and Cu/Zn Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) in Adult Shuar Males of Amazonian Ecuador
Objectives Reproductive effort incurs the cost of biological aging and morbidity by compromising somatic maintenance when key resources are limited. Oxidative stress is positively correlated with reproductive effort in adult human females and non‐human male animal models, but human males are understudied. We hypothesized that due to its anabolic and metabolic promotion of reproductive effort in human males, testosterone would be positively associ…
Circulating Epstein–Barr Virus Antibody Levels as a Biomarker of Socioecological Adversity in Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVES: Circulating Epstein-Barr virus antibodies (EBV-Ab) are used as a biomarker of chronic stress in high-income settings, but their relevance in environments with a high burden of infectious disease, nutritional constraints, and limited resources is less clear. We investigated EBV-Ab as a biomarker of adversity in a setting where local ecology and economy may affect immune development differently than in wealthy countries. METHODS: We mea…
Salivary Testosterone, Age, and Adiposity Associations Among Shuar Males in Amazonian Ecuador Challenge Assumptions of “Normal” Testosterone Patterns
Objectives Adult male testosterone concentrations in high income countries often decrease with age and adiposity, a pattern typically viewed as “normal.” However, testosterone is expected to be adaptively regulated within the range of resource constrained, high pathogen, natural fertility conditions across which it evolved to function. We therefore examine associations among testosterone diurnal variation, age, and adiposity among Indigenous Shua…
Variation in diurnal cortisol patterns among the Indigenous Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador
This study expands the documented range of global variation in HPA axis activity and diurnal cortisol production and provides important insights into the plasticity of human stress physiology across diverse developmental and socioecological settings
Low prevalence of anemia among Shuar communities of Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVE: Anemia is an important global health challenge. We investigate anemia prevalence among Indigenous Shuar of Ecuador to expand our understanding of population-level variation, and to test hypotheses about how anemia variation is related to age, sex, and market integration. METHODS: Hemoglobin levels were measured in a total sample of 1650 Shuar participants (ages 6 months to 86 years) from 46 communities between 2008 and 2017 to compare …
Age‐related patterns of cytomegalovirus antibodies accompanying Epstein‐Barr virus co‐infection
OBJECTIVE: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is associated with age-related chronic disease, and co-infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may compound disease risk. We aimed to assess the frequency of CMV infection and its relationship with age among EBV seropositive individuals in an Indigenous Amazonian population. METHODS: We report concentrations of CMV and EBV antibodies in dried blood spot samples collected from 157 EBV positive Shuar parti…
Bringing the lab bench to the field
Point‐of‐care testing (POCT) allows researchers and health‐care providers to bring the lab bench to the field, providing essential health information that can be leveraged to improve health care, accessibility, and understanding across clinical and research settings. Gaps in health service access are most pronounced in what we term RIR settings—rural/remote regions, involving Indigenous peoples, and/or within resource‐limited settings. In these c…
After Theranos
OBJECTIVES: The rise and fall of the health technology startup Theranos is emblematic of the promise and peril of point-of-care testing (POCT). Instruments that deliver immediate results from minimally invasive samples at the location of collection can provide powerful tools to deliver health data in clinical and public health contexts. Yet, POCT availability is driven largely by market interests, which limits the development of inexpensive tests…
Validation of an enzyme‐linked immunoassay assay for osteocalcin, a marker of bone formation, in dried blood spots
OBJECTIVES: Investigating factors that contribute to bone loss and accretion across populations in remote settings is challenging, particularly where diagnostic tools are scarce. To mitigate this challenge, we describe validation of a commercial ELISA assay to measure osteocalcin, a biomarker of bone formation, from dried blood spots (DBS). METHODS: We validated the Osteocalcin Human SimpleStep ELISA kit from Abcam (ab1951214) using 158 matched p…
Disparities in bone density across contemporary Amazonian forager‐horticulturalists
OBJECTIVES: This study investigates bone density across the life course among Bolivian Tsimane and Ecuadorian Shuar of Amazonia. Both groups are rural, high-fertility forager-horticulturalists, with high lifetime physical activity levels. We test whether Tsimane and Shuar bone density patterns are different from each other, and if both groups are characterized by lower osteoporosis risk compared to U.S. references. METHODS: Anthropometric and cal…
High energy requirements and water throughput of adult Shuar forager‐horticulturalists of Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVES: We measured total energy expenditure (TEE; kcal/d) and water throughput (L/d) among Shuar forager-horticulturalists from Amazonian Ecuador to compare their daily energy and water demands to adults in other small-scale and industrialized populations. METHODS: TEE and water throughput were measured using the doubly labeled water method among 15 Shuar adults (eight women, seven men; age range 18-60 years) living in a relatively remote vi…
Soil‐transmitted helminth infection and intestinal inflammation among the Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVES: Little research exists documenting levels of intestinal inflammation among indigenous populations where exposure to macroparasites, like soil-transmitted helminths (STHs), is common. Reduced STH exposure is hypothesized to contribute to increased prevalence of elevated intestinal inflammation in wealthy nations, likely due to coevolutionary histories between STHs and human immune systems that favored anti-inflammatory pathways. Here, …
Physical growth of the shuar
OBJECTIVES: Information concerning physical growth among small-scale populations remains limited, yet such data are critical to local health efforts and to foster basic understandings of human life history and variation in childhood development. Using a large dataset and robust modeling methods, this study aims to describe growth from birth to adulthood among the indigenous Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador. METHODS: Mixed-longitudinal measures of heigh…
Heterogeneous effects of market integration on sub-adult body size and nutritional status among the Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador
This study provides novel insight into the complex socio-ecological pathways linking MI, physical growth and health among the Shuar and other indigenous Amazonian populations
Determining osteoporosis risk in older C olono adults from rural A mazonian E cuador using calcaneal ultrasonometry
OBJECTIVE: Low bone density and osteoporosis prevalence, while well-documented in wealthy nations, are poorly studied in rural, non-clinical contexts in economically developing regions such as Latin America. This study contributes preliminary osteoporosis risk data for a rural Colono (mestizo) population from Amazonian Ecuador. METHODS: Anthropometrics were collected for 119 adult participants (74 females, 45 males [50-90 years old]). Heel bone d…
Low mineral density of a weight‐bearing bone among adult women in a high fertility population
Evolutionary theories of aging posit that greater reproductive effort causes somatic decline given a fundamental trade‐off between investing energy in reproduction and repair. Few studies in high fertility human populations support this hypothesis, and problems of phenotypic correlation can obscure the expected trade‐off between reproduction and somatic condition. This cross‐sectional study investigates whether greater reproductive effort is asso…
An Evolutionary and Life-History Perspective on Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a systemic disease characterized by bone mass reductions and heightened fracture risk; its global prevalence rates are projected to increase precipitously over the next few decades. Evolutionary and life-history perspectives have proven valuable for offering a different lens with which to consider the etiologies of common chronic diseases, and in this review, these approaches are applied to osteoporosis. Although there are many pe…
Implications of market integration for cardiovascular and metabolic health among an indigenous Amazonian Ecuadorian population
This study provides evidence that MI among Shuar is not a uniformly negative process but instead produces complex cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes
Implications of market integration for cardiovascular and metabolic health among an indigenous Amazonian Ecuadorian population
This study provides evidence that MI among Shuar is not a uniformly negative process but instead produces complex cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes
Heterogeneous effects of market integration on sub-adult body size and nutritional status among the Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador
This study provides novel insight into the complex socio-ecological pathways linking MI, physical growth and health among the Shuar and other indigenous Amazonian populations
Low mineral density of a weight‐bearing bone among adult women in a high fertility population
Evolutionary theories of aging posit that greater reproductive effort causes somatic decline given a fundamental trade‐off between investing energy in reproduction and repair. Few studies in high fertility human populations support this hypothesis, and problems of phenotypic correlation can obscure the expected trade‐off between reproduction and somatic condition. This cross‐sectional study investigates whether greater reproductive effort is asso…
An Evolutionary and Life-History Perspective on Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a systemic disease characterized by bone mass reductions and heightened fracture risk; its global prevalence rates are projected to increase precipitously over the next few decades. Evolutionary and life-history perspectives have proven valuable for offering a different lens with which to consider the etiologies of common chronic diseases, and in this review, these approaches are applied to osteoporosis. Although there are many pe…
Disparities in bone density across contemporary Amazonian forager‐horticulturalists
OBJECTIVES: This study investigates bone density across the life course among Bolivian Tsimane and Ecuadorian Shuar of Amazonia. Both groups are rural, high-fertility forager-horticulturalists, with high lifetime physical activity levels. We test whether Tsimane and Shuar bone density patterns are different from each other, and if both groups are characterized by lower osteoporosis risk compared to U.S. references. METHODS: Anthropometric and cal…
Soil‐transmitted helminth infection and intestinal inflammation among the Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVES: Little research exists documenting levels of intestinal inflammation among indigenous populations where exposure to macroparasites, like soil-transmitted helminths (STHs), is common. Reduced STH exposure is hypothesized to contribute to increased prevalence of elevated intestinal inflammation in wealthy nations, likely due to coevolutionary histories between STHs and human immune systems that favored anti-inflammatory pathways. Here, …
Obelionic cranial deformation in the Puebloan Southwest
As a form of cranial deformation, obelionic flattening is rare. Originally named and described by Stewart (J Wash Acad Sci 29 ( 1939 ) 460–465), based on a small sample from Florida, it has been little noted since. Previously [Nelson and Madimenos, Paper presented at the Paleopathology Association annual meeting (2007)], we reported the discovery of two individuals from the Pueblo III Gallina site of Cañada Simon I who exhibit flattening of this …
Life history, immune function, and intestinal helminths
Objectives. Infection with helminths is associated with shifts in host immunity, including increased production of immunoglobulin E (IgE) and reduced inflammation. Given limited energy budgets, these shifts may involve changes in energy allocation toward competing demands. Here we test for potential trade‐offs between growth, IgE, and the inflammatory marker C‐reactive protein (CRP). Methods. Dried blood spots and anthropometrics were collected f…
Obelionic cranial deformation in the Puebloan Southwest
As a form of cranial deformation, obelionic flattening is rare. Originally named and described by Stewart (J Wash Acad Sci 29 ( 1939 ) 460–465), based on a small sample from Florida, it has been little noted since. Previously [Nelson and Madimenos, Paper presented at the Paleopathology Association annual meeting (2007)], we reported the discovery of two individuals from the Pueblo III Gallina site of Cañada Simon I who exhibit flattening of this …
Physical activity in an indigenous Ecuadorian forager‐horticulturalist population as measured using accelerometry
OBJECTIVE: Minimal information on physical activity is available for non-Western populations undergoing the transition to a market economy. This is unfortunate given the importance of these data for understanding health issues such as the global obesity epidemic. We consider the utility of using accelerometry technology to examine activity patterns and energy use regulation among indigenous Shuar, an Ecuadorian forager-horticulturalist population…
Reproductive effects on skeletal health in Shuar women of Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVE: Clinical and epidemiological research suggest that bone mineral density (BMD) in women is shaped by various reproductive factors such as parity and lactation patterns. However, the extent of these effects on BMD remains unclear because of contradictory findings and a focus on industrialized populations. Because fertility patterns in these groups are vastly different than those of women from non-Western, subsistence populations, our cur…
Analysis of variability of high sensitivity C‐reactive protein in lowland ecuador reveals no evidence of chronic low‐grade inflammation
This study is the first to investigate CRP variability in a nonindustrialized, high infectious disease environment. It documents a pattern of variation over time that is distinct from prior research, with no evidence for chronic low-grade inflammation. These results may have substantial implications for research on inflammation and diseases of aging globally, as well as for scientific understandings of the regulation of inflammation
Implications of market integration for cardiovascular and metabolic health among an indigenous Amazonian Ecuadorian population
This study provides evidence that MI among Shuar is not a uniformly negative process but instead produces complex cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes
Determining osteoporosis risk in older C olono adults from rural A mazonian E cuador using calcaneal ultrasonometry
OBJECTIVE: Low bone density and osteoporosis prevalence, while well-documented in wealthy nations, are poorly studied in rural, non-clinical contexts in economically developing regions such as Latin America. This study contributes preliminary osteoporosis risk data for a rural Colono (mestizo) population from Amazonian Ecuador. METHODS: Anthropometrics were collected for 119 adult participants (74 females, 45 males [50-90 years old]). Heel bone d…
Low mineral density of a weight‐bearing bone among adult women in a high fertility population
Evolutionary theories of aging posit that greater reproductive effort causes somatic decline given a fundamental trade‐off between investing energy in reproduction and repair. Few studies in high fertility human populations support this hypothesis, and problems of phenotypic correlation can obscure the expected trade‐off between reproduction and somatic condition. This cross‐sectional study investigates whether greater reproductive effort is asso…
An Evolutionary and Life-History Perspective on Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a systemic disease characterized by bone mass reductions and heightened fracture risk; its global prevalence rates are projected to increase precipitously over the next few decades. Evolutionary and life-history perspectives have proven valuable for offering a different lens with which to consider the etiologies of common chronic diseases, and in this review, these approaches are applied to osteoporosis. Although there are many pe…
Physical growth of the shuar
OBJECTIVES: Information concerning physical growth among small-scale populations remains limited, yet such data are critical to local health efforts and to foster basic understandings of human life history and variation in childhood development. Using a large dataset and robust modeling methods, this study aims to describe growth from birth to adulthood among the indigenous Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador. METHODS: Mixed-longitudinal measures of heigh…
Heterogeneous effects of market integration on sub-adult body size and nutritional status among the Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador
This study provides novel insight into the complex socio-ecological pathways linking MI, physical growth and health among the Shuar and other indigenous Amazonian populations
High energy requirements and water throughput of adult Shuar forager‐horticulturalists of Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVES: We measured total energy expenditure (TEE; kcal/d) and water throughput (L/d) among Shuar forager-horticulturalists from Amazonian Ecuador to compare their daily energy and water demands to adults in other small-scale and industrialized populations. METHODS: TEE and water throughput were measured using the doubly labeled water method among 15 Shuar adults (eight women, seven men; age range 18-60 years) living in a relatively remote vi…
Soil‐transmitted helminth infection and intestinal inflammation among the Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVES: Little research exists documenting levels of intestinal inflammation among indigenous populations where exposure to macroparasites, like soil-transmitted helminths (STHs), is common. Reduced STH exposure is hypothesized to contribute to increased prevalence of elevated intestinal inflammation in wealthy nations, likely due to coevolutionary histories between STHs and human immune systems that favored anti-inflammatory pathways. Here, …
Validation of an enzyme‐linked immunoassay assay for osteocalcin, a marker of bone formation, in dried blood spots
OBJECTIVES: Investigating factors that contribute to bone loss and accretion across populations in remote settings is challenging, particularly where diagnostic tools are scarce. To mitigate this challenge, we describe validation of a commercial ELISA assay to measure osteocalcin, a biomarker of bone formation, from dried blood spots (DBS). METHODS: We validated the Osteocalcin Human SimpleStep ELISA kit from Abcam (ab1951214) using 158 matched p…
Disparities in bone density across contemporary Amazonian forager‐horticulturalists
OBJECTIVES: This study investigates bone density across the life course among Bolivian Tsimane and Ecuadorian Shuar of Amazonia. Both groups are rural, high-fertility forager-horticulturalists, with high lifetime physical activity levels. We test whether Tsimane and Shuar bone density patterns are different from each other, and if both groups are characterized by lower osteoporosis risk compared to U.S. references. METHODS: Anthropometric and cal…
Low prevalence of anemia among Shuar communities of Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVE: Anemia is an important global health challenge. We investigate anemia prevalence among Indigenous Shuar of Ecuador to expand our understanding of population-level variation, and to test hypotheses about how anemia variation is related to age, sex, and market integration. METHODS: Hemoglobin levels were measured in a total sample of 1650 Shuar participants (ages 6 months to 86 years) from 46 communities between 2008 and 2017 to compare …
Age‐related patterns of cytomegalovirus antibodies accompanying Epstein‐Barr virus co‐infection
OBJECTIVE: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is associated with age-related chronic disease, and co-infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may compound disease risk. We aimed to assess the frequency of CMV infection and its relationship with age among EBV seropositive individuals in an Indigenous Amazonian population. METHODS: We report concentrations of CMV and EBV antibodies in dried blood spot samples collected from 157 EBV positive Shuar parti…
Bringing the lab bench to the field
Point‐of‐care testing (POCT) allows researchers and health‐care providers to bring the lab bench to the field, providing essential health information that can be leveraged to improve health care, accessibility, and understanding across clinical and research settings. Gaps in health service access are most pronounced in what we term RIR settings—rural/remote regions, involving Indigenous peoples, and/or within resource‐limited settings. In these c…
After Theranos
OBJECTIVES: The rise and fall of the health technology startup Theranos is emblematic of the promise and peril of point-of-care testing (POCT). Instruments that deliver immediate results from minimally invasive samples at the location of collection can provide powerful tools to deliver health data in clinical and public health contexts. Yet, POCT availability is driven largely by market interests, which limits the development of inexpensive tests…
Variation in diurnal cortisol patterns among the Indigenous Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador
This study expands the documented range of global variation in HPA axis activity and diurnal cortisol production and provides important insights into the plasticity of human stress physiology across diverse developmental and socioecological settings
Soil‐Transmitted Helminths and the Intricacies of Immunoregulation
OBJECTIVES: The old friends hypothesis (OFH) examines connections between the global increase in immunoregulatory diseases (e.g., allergy and autoimmunity) and reduced exposure to immune-priming symbionts like soil-transmitted helminths. Helminth species, however, vary in their effects on hosts and should be considered separately. We examined relationships between species-specific helminth infection and circulating biomarkers of adaptive immune a…
Somatic Symptoms Are Associated With Elevated Blood Pressure and Epstein–Barr Virus Antibodies Among Shuar of the Ecuadorian Amazon
INTRODUCTION: This study tests the hypothesis that self-reported somatic symptoms are associated with biomarkers of stress, including elevated blood pressure and suppressed immune function, among Shuar adults living in the Ecuadorian Amazon. METHODS: Research was conducted in three Shuar communities in the Upano Valley of the Ecuadorian Amazon and included the collection of biomarkers and a structured morbidity interview. Participants self-report…
Bioethics Recommendations to Increase Culturally Informed Global Health Survey Research
Global health projects—a source of inspiration and collaboration for applied human biology—benefit scholars, governments, NGOs, and aid organizations. While such research is intended to improve population health, direct benefits to individuals and communities are often excluded from published works and/or not considered in study designs and framing. This exclusion is increasingly recognized as a colonial legacy that hinders global health equity, …
Testosterone, 8‐Oxo‐2′‐Deoxyguanosine (8‐OHdG) and Cu/Zn Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) in Adult Shuar Males of Amazonian Ecuador
Objectives Reproductive effort incurs the cost of biological aging and morbidity by compromising somatic maintenance when key resources are limited. Oxidative stress is positively correlated with reproductive effort in adult human females and non‐human male animal models, but human males are understudied. We hypothesized that due to its anabolic and metabolic promotion of reproductive effort in human males, testosterone would be positively associ…
Circulating Epstein–Barr Virus Antibody Levels as a Biomarker of Socioecological Adversity in Amazonian Ecuador
OBJECTIVES: Circulating Epstein-Barr virus antibodies (EBV-Ab) are used as a biomarker of chronic stress in high-income settings, but their relevance in environments with a high burden of infectious disease, nutritional constraints, and limited resources is less clear. We investigated EBV-Ab as a biomarker of adversity in a setting where local ecology and economy may affect immune development differently than in wealthy countries. METHODS: We mea…
Medicine (19 obras) · Biology (16 obras) · Indigenous (12 obras) · Population (12 obras) · Indigenous Health and Education (11 obras) · Ecology (10 obras) · Amazon rainforest (9 obras) · Demography (9 obras) · Internal Medicine (9 obras) · Amazonian (8 obras)