Abstract
The exhumation of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546±1601) was performed in 2010 to
verify speculative views on the cause of his death. Previous analyses of skeletal and hair
remains recovered from his grave refuted the presumption that he died from poisoning.
These studies also outlined the possibility that he actually died from an acute illness, echoing
the rather vague and inaccurate testimony of some historical records. We performed a
detailed paleopathological analysis of Tycho Brahe's skeletal remains, along with a reconstruction
of his diet based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes analysis and an estimate of
his physical status (relative body fat) based on medullar and cortical dimensions of the femoral
shaft. The astronomer's remains exhibit bone changes indicative of diffuse idiopathic
skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). The study further allows us to classify him as obese (100% reliability
according to our decision tree designed from Danish males), and points out his rich
diet (high input of animal protein and/or marine resources) and high social status. Comorbidities
of DISH and obesity are reviewed, and their influence on health status is discussed. We
further consider some conditions associated with metabolic syndrome as possible causes of
Tycho Brahe's final symptoms (urinary retention, renal failure and coma), including diabetes,
alcoholic ketoacidosis and benign prostatic hypertrophy. Although a definite and specific
diagnosis cannot be established, our study points to today's civilization diseases often associated
with DISH and metabolic syndrome as the possible cause of death of Tycho Brahe.

Abstract
Objectives: The human femoral diaphysis is often used to reconstruct loading histories
(mobility, activity, body mass). The proximal femur is known to be differentially
affected by changes in total fat-mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), and body fat percentage
(BF%), but the adaptation of the entire diaphysis to body composition has
not been thoroughly characterized to date. Understanding how the femoral diaphysis
adapts to body components would benefit biomechanical interpretations of the femoral
variation and nutrition-related studies.
Methods: Combining various methods from clinical nutrition, biological anthropology,
and geometric morphometrics, we evaluated the correlation of measures taken
on the entire femoral diaphysis with estimated FM, FFM, and BF% from 61 CT scans
(17 females, 44 males). The sample was predominantly composed of people with
obesity.
Results: Cortical area of the cross-sections and local cortical thickness showed high
correlation with BF% in particular, in females only. The curvature significantly
decreased with FM and BF% in both sexes. The lowest correlations are found with
FFM.
Conclusions: The observed sexual dimorphism is consistent with differing aging
processes; cortical bone decreases in females through endosteal resorption while it
remains almost constant in males who compensate for endosteal resorption by periosteal
apposition on the diaphyseal surface. The functional adaptation to compressive
forces indicates a systemic endosteal apposition of bone material with increased BF%
and FM in females only. FM and BF% are linked to a straighter femur in both sexes,
suggesting an optimization of the resistance to compressive loads by distributing
them more linearly along the entire diaphysis.