At the Origins of Tobacco-Smoking and Tea Consumption in a Virgin Population (Yakutia, 1650–1900 A.D.): Comparison of Pharmacological, Histological, Economic and Cultural Data

SIMPLE SUMMARY: We want to study (i) how tobacco and tea spread in a population with no previous contact with these substances and (ii) what factors influenced their diffusions. We measured the rates of theobromine, theophylline, caffeine, nicotine, and cotinine in hair samples from 47 frozen bodies from eastern Siberia which date from the contact with Europeans to the assimilation of people into Russian society (end of 19th century). We compared our results with archaeological and historical data. The factors that influenced the spread of smoking could be family factors, the proximity of sale outlets, and fashion. Long before tobacco, herbal teas existed, and the generalization of tea seems to have happened in the 19th century under pressure from economic circuits and tea ceremonies diffused by the elites, even though the habit of herbal tea drinking certainly persisted. Some epidemiological characteristics of present-day Yakutia could find their origins in the 18th and 19th-century diffusion phenomena. ABSTRACT: (1) Background: The way tobacco and tea spread among virgin populations is of major interest our understanding of how ancient economic and cultural practices could have influenced current habits. (2) Methods: hair concentrations of theobromine, theophylline, caffeine, nicotine, and cotinine were measured in hair samples from 47 frozen bodies of people from eastern Siberia, dated from the contact with Europeans to the assimilation of people into Russian society. (3) Results: hair concentration of theobromine, theophylline, and caffeine vary with the type of beverage consumed: green, black, or local herbal teas. Shortly after the first contacts, a few heavy consumers of tobacco were found among light or passive consumers. Tobacco-related co-morbidities began to be recorded one century after and heavy tea users were only found from the 19th century (4) Conclusions: Economic factors and social and family contacts seem to have played a decisive role in tobacco consumption very early on. Behavioral evolution governed the process of substance integration into Siberian culture and was a determinant for the continuity of its use across long periods of time. Analyzing the respective contributions of social and economic processes in the use of these substances opens avenues of investigation for today’s public health.