SILK ROAD DISEASE: FROM LEGENDS TO THE 21st CENTURY

Abstract

The paper considers the historical and geographical aspects of Behcet’s disease (BD). As is known, the geographical distribution of this disease is associated with the ancient caravan route called the Silk Road: it was in these areas along which the latter once ran there have been predominantly cases of BD so far. There are discrepancies in the literature regarding whether the Silk Road was across the North Caucasus, along the coast of the Caspian Sea in particular. In support of this conjecture, there is interesting evidence: stone-cutting images that have been retained on the houses of the Dagestani settlement of Kubachi. All give an answer why the natives of the North Caucasus constitute one-fourth of the total number of BD patients followed up at the V.A. Nasonova Research Institute of Rheumatology