Contents:
Edited by Alan D. Dangour , Emily M. Grundy , Astrid E. For Instructors Request Inspection Copy. Add to Wish List. Description Reviews Contents Series Subjects. Description Many current public health actions and policies aimed at older people revolve around the often prevailing view that failing health is a consequence of ageing.
The Bookshelf application offers access: Online — Access your eBooks using the links emailed to you on your Routledge. Some sexually dimorphic characteristics also impose a burden on men: Other factors like higher somatic maintenance and faster aging in males are also thought to play a role. There is an extensive evolutionary psychology literature that aims to explain much of human behavior in terms of mate-seeking behavior and sexual competition. Unfortunately, there has been much over-statement and popularization in this domain that has harmed the overall incorporation of evolutionary thought into medicine.
However, while evolutionary psychology has its limitations, the role of sexual selection in the origin of both physical and behavioral traits should not be ignored. In population genetics, the examples of sickle cell anemia, the thalassemias, and glucosephosphate dehydrogenase deficiency have all been explained in terms of the heterozygote advantage providing resistance against malaria, whereas the homozygous form is associated with more severe disease Luzzatto Recently, the possession of two variants in the APOL1 gene—a characteristic common in Africans but absent in Europeans—was shown to be associated with an increased risk of renal disease Genovese et al.
The protein produced by these variants showed lytic activity against the trypanosome parasite that causes sleeping sickness, suggesting that the risk alleles were maintained to help confer a protective effect. The association of the variants with protection was dominant, while that with renal disease was recessive, pointing towards a heterozygous advantage model. Speculation persists about other common alleles that are in apparent equilibrium within populations.
For example, in European populations, the most common recessive disease is cystic fibrosis, a disorder of the chloride-secreting channel in epithelia such as the lung associated with excessively viscous secretions and subsequent wheezing and infections; a carrier frequency of one in 25 has been seen in some populations Massie et al. It has been suggested this frequency could not persist unless there was an advantage to being a heterozygote. Possible past selective pressures include typhoid, cholera and other diarrheal diseases, or perhaps tuberculosis, but no firm data exist.
The benefits of diverse medical treatments and interventions are often measured with regard to quality-of-life outcomes 9. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Nutritional frailty, sarcopenia and falls in the elderly. Future policies must recognise this changing paradigm, and, using a multi-disciplinary approach, integrate fully the changing needs of older people into all areas of public policy including health, nutrition, social support, housing, and economic security. The Bookshelf application offers access: Recent studies based on the doubly labeled water methodology and reported by Westerterp and Meijer in this volume 13 suggest that the primary reason for reduced energy needs is the sharp drop in physical activity that also occurs with advancing age.
A recent study analyzing the genome in two human populations was able to identify genes associated with various functions, such as immunity and keratin production, that strongly demonstrated long-term balancing selection Andres et al. Balancing selection has also been used to explain differences between allelic forms that confer different behaviors. For example, there are alternate alleles of the promoter for the vasopressin receptor that is associated with pair bonding, with one form being more common in individuals who have less stable relationships Walum et al.
While at the moment such observations are speculative and premature, as human genomic information becomes more widely incorporated into the understanding of human biology and behavior, such inferences and associations will become more frequent; they raise ethical issues that will need to be confronted. There are many examples of founder effects and population effects affecting disease distribution.
For example, blood group distribution in American-Indians is dominated by the O blood type, possibly reflecting a founder effect when humans crossed the Bering strait Halverson and Bolnick The contemporary Finnish population also descended from a founder population that underwent a tight bottleneck during migration northwards across the Gulf of Finland. It is a highly homogeneous population that displays a distinct pattern of disease compared to the rest of Europe, such as being prone to multiple rare genetic diseases but also being much less likely to develop some other diseases like cystic fibrosis Peltonen et al.
A similar situation is seen in the French Canadians, whose ancestors underwent a series of regional founder effects, leading to a characteristic geographical distribution of genetic diseases Laberge et al. There are clusters of individuals with rare diseases of genetic origin found in different locales: The distribution of leprosy strains maps to human migration Monot et al.
The mutation results in a defective chemokine receptor, and its high frequency in Europeans appears to have been attributed to selective pressure caused by infectious disease Duncan et al. While this mutation has been well established to confer a high level of resistance to infection by the human immunodeficiency virus, it also increases the risk of succumbing to encephalitogenic West Nile virus infections Glass et al. Many of the issues in evolutionary medicine are shared by other domains of contemporary evolutionary studies. Measures of rapid environmental change and epigenetics need to be integrated alongside traditional measures of gene—environment interactions.
Given the centrality of the individual's life course to evolutionary medicine, the roles of parental effects, epigenetic inheritance, and epigenetic determination of disease risk must be paramount in the research agenda. The combination of genetic and epigenetic information in relation to disease risk should allow a broader range of evolutionary hypotheses to be tested, which will in turn have implications for intervention and public health. For example, despite extensive investment in genome-wide association studies, the size of genetic contributions to common diseases has been small Manolio et al.
If the missing familial factors are indeed epigenetic rather than genetic, this may well shift the point of focus of intervention.
However, much of this research agenda will require considerably closer integration with other areas of contemporary evolutionary studies than has been achieved to date. Equally importantly, evolutionary medicine needs better integration with other branches of medicine. The current problematic status of evolutionary medicine within the pool of medical teaching and research disciplines comes from its quite distinct perspective, one which emphasizes ultimate rather than proximate explanations.
Yet this perspective, as a result, provides the physician with a more comprehensive understanding of the patient as well as a greater understanding of human ecology, human variation, and life history. It will infuse a different world view and way of thinking into medicine and public health Childs et al. Evolutionary medicine shifts the emphasis from dichotomous consideration of health and disease to a more contextual consideration. Ultimately, a new synthesis will be needed in which evolutionary biologists focused on contemporary evolution develop academic programmes jointly with scientists interested in medicine.
The extraordinary potential of human medicine to determine the phenotype, genotype, and epigenotype of individuals allows a dissection of the life course in a way that may not be possible in other species. In doing so, studies in human biology have much to offer to our understanding of contemporary evolution. We gratefully acknowledge Professor Carl Bergstrom for invaluable discussions and for comments on the manuscript.
National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List Evol Appl v. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Received Sep 7; Accepted Sep This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract An appreciation of the fundamental principles of evolutionary biology provides new insights into major diseases and enables an integrated understanding of human biology and medicine.
Basic principles of evolutionary medicine While medical practitioners and public health specialists are familiar with the proximate causes of disease, that is, the physiological basis of how they develop, an understanding of the general principles of evolutionary medicine would assist in gaining a fuller understanding and appreciation of why human diseases arise—that is, the ultimate causes. A systematic approach to evolutionary medicine Nesse, together with Williams Nesse and Williams , and later Stephen Stearns Nesse and Stearns , has posed the primary question: Table 1 Pathways that mediate the influence of evolutionary processes on disease vulnerability.
Open in a separate window. Mismatch Increased disease risk can emerge, because the individual has been exposed to an environment that is beyond their evolved capacity to adapt, is entirely novel or that poses a challenge. Life history factors This category combines several related evolutionary concepts that account for how the evolved human life course strategy and changed way of living have led to increased susceptibility to disease.
Excessive defence mechanisms Many symptoms can be explained as demonstrations of evolved defence processes that have become inappropriate or excessive, and thus potentially harmful to the individual. Co-evolutionary considerations and the evolutionary arms race Humans live in symbiotic relationships with a large population of bacteria, particularly in their gastrointestinal tract. Evolutionary constraint and history Many features of human anatomy associated with potential pathology represent the consequences of our evolutionary history. Sexual selection and its consequences Many anatomical features of humans, such as the loss of most of their body hair, may have their origin in sexual selection.
Balancing selection In population genetics, the examples of sickle cell anemia, the thalassemias, and glucosephosphate dehydrogenase deficiency have all been explained in terms of the heterozygote advantage providing resistance against malaria, whereas the homozygous form is associated with more severe disease Luzzatto Demographic history There are many examples of founder effects and population effects affecting disease distribution. The challenges and opportunities ahead Many of the issues in evolutionary medicine are shared by other domains of contemporary evolutionary studies.
Acknowledgments We gratefully acknowledge Professor Carl Bergstrom for invaluable discussions and for comments on the manuscript. Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians. Constructing genomic maps of positive selection in humans: New York Review of Books.
Ageing Well: Nutrition, Health, and Social Interventions - CRC Press Book. Series: Society for the Study of Human Biology. For Instructors. Ageing Well: Nutrition, Health, and Social Interventions (Society for the Study of Human Biology): Medicine & Health Science Books.
Human evolution, low back pain, and dual-level control. Oxford University Press; Natural histories of infectious disease: Targets of balancing selection in the human genome. From evolutionary genetics to human immunology: Experimental evolution of bet hedging. The ecology and evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Evolution in Health and Disease. Ecological theory suggests that antimicrobial cycling will not reduce antimicrobial resistance in hospitals.
Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Antibiotic cycling or rotation: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Textbook of Evolutionary Psychiatry: The Origins of Psychopathology. Darwin and the doctors: In light of evolution: Synthesis and some major functions of vitamin C in animals. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. A science of the individual: Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics. Association between parasite infection and immune responses in multiple sclerosis.
The emergence of human-evolutionary medical genomics. A proof of concept study establishing Necator americanus in Crohn's patients and reservoir donors. Coadaptation in mother and infant regulated by a paternally expressed imprinted gene. Zoonomia; or the Laws of Organic Life. Outdoor activity and myopia in Singapore teenage children. British Journal of Ophthalmology. Intergenerational consequences of fetal programming by in utero exposure to glucocorticoids in rats.
American Journal of Physiology. Annual Review of Anthropology. Journal of Medical Genetics. Strategies for containing an emerging influenza pandemic in Southeast Asia. Current Opinion in Neurobiology. The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, — Europe, America and the Third World. Cambridge University Press; Adaptive radiations and dispersals in Hominin evolutionary ecology. X-chromosome relatedness and sex-specific childhood mortality. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Of pregnancy and progeny.
Maternal diet during pregnancy and carotid intima-media thickness in children. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. Association of trypanolytic ApoL1 variants with kidney disease in African Americans. CCR5 deficiency increases risk of symptomatic West Nile virus infection. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. Maternal constraint of fetal growth and its consequences. Evolution, development and timing of puberty.
Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism. Predictive adaptive responses and human evolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. Environmental influences during development and their later consequences for health and disease: Early life events and their consequences for later disease: American Journal of Human Biology. Principles of Evolutionary Medicine.
A conceptual framework for the developmental origins of health and disease. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. Type 2 non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Inheritance of a cancer-associated MLH1 germ-line epimutation.
New England Journal of Medicine. The origins of lactase persistence in Europe. Quarterly Review of Biology. Unique metabolic characteristics of the major syndromes of severe childhood malnutrition. The House that John Built.
Ian Randle Publishers; Early growth determines longevity in male rats and may be related to telomere shortening in the kidney. The force of selection on the human life cycle. Evolution and Human Behavior. We age because we grow. In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity. Timing the ancestor of the HIV-1 pandemic strains. An evolutionary life-history framework for understanding sex differences in human mortality rates. Population history and its impact on medical genetics in Quebec.
The inheritance of phenotypes: Journal of Theoretical Biology. How culture shaped the human genome: Microstructural maturation of the human brain from childhood to adulthood. Rethinking the evolutionary theory of aging: Transfers, not births, shape senescence in social species. Compensatory mutations, antibiotic resistance and the population genetics of adaptive evolution in bacteria. The epidemiology of antibiotic resistance in hospitals: Malaria and Darwinian selection in human populations. A Century of Mendelism in Human Genetics.
Finding the missing heritability of complex diseases. When is a maternal effect adaptive? Screening couples for cystic fibrosis carrier status: Medical Journal of Australia. Parity affects epigenetic status at birth. A novel protective prion protein variant that colocalizes with kuru exposure. Our capacity to understand the biology of historical populations is experiencing remarkable developments on both theoretical and analytical fronts.
Human Biology and History weaves together the fields of biology,…. Nicholas Mascie-Taylor , Akira Yasukouchi , Stanley Ulijaszek The transition in anthropological and biomedical research methods over the past 50 years, from anthropometric and craniometric measurements to large-scale microarray genetic studies has resulted in continued revision of opinions and ideas relating to the factors and forces that drive human… Paperback — CRC Press Society for the Study of Human Biology. Medicine and Evolution Current Applications, Future Prospects, 1st Edition Edited by Sarah Elton , Paul O'Higgins Can an evolutionary perspective be integrated in day-to-day practice and is it of value in medical education and training?
Fletcher Many current public health actions and policies aimed at older people revolve around the often prevailing view that failing health is a consequence of ageing. Social Information Transmission and Human Biology 1st Edition Edited by Jonathan CK Wells , Simon Strickland , Kevin Laland Recent research has emphasized that socially transmitted information may affect both the gene pool and the phenotypes of individuals and populations, and that an improved understanding of evolutionary issues is beneficial to those working towards the improvement of human health.
Goodman Unprecedented advances in genetics and biotechnology have brought profound new insights into human biological variation. Childhood Obesity Contemporary Issues, 1st Edition Edited by Noel Cameron , Gerard Hastings , George Ellison The consequences of childhood obesity are serious and far reaching, with both physical and psychological components that add to its complexity.
McGarvey Disease is an ever-present threat faced by all human societies. Today, this concept has become an influential area of study known as the global burden of disease, which encompasses contemporary health concerns such as the economic costs of disease, the societal impact of illness in developing… Hardback — CRC Press Society for the Study of Human Biology.