The Hygiene Hypothesis And Darwinian Medicine

Author : Graham A.W. Rook
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2009-12-24
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9783764389031

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The Hygiene Hypothesis and Darwinian Medicine by Graham A.W. Rook Pdf

Man has moved rapidly from the hunter-gatherer environment to the living conditions of industrialised countries. The hygiene hypothesis suggests that the resulting reduced exposure to micro-organisms has led to disordered regulation of the immune system, and hence to increases in certain chronic inflammatory disorders, like allergic disorders, autoimmunity, inflammatory bowel disease, atherosclerosis, depression, some cancers and perhaps Alzheimer and Parkinson. This book discusses the evidence for and against in the context of Darwinian medicine, which uses knowledge of evolution to cast light on human diseases. The approach is interdisciplinary, looking at man’s microbiological history, at the biology of the effects of microorganisms on the immune system, and at the implications for chronic inflammatory disorders in multiple organ systems. Finally, the authors describe progress in the exploitation of microorganisms or their components as novel prophylactics and treatments.

Author : Jeremy Taylor
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 261 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2015-10-22
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9780226059914

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Body by Darwin by Jeremy Taylor Pdf

This exploration of cutting-edge evolutionary medicine and how our body’s performance is shaped by its past “covers fascinating territory” (Publishers Weekly). We think of medical science and doctors as focused on treating conditions—whether it’s a cough or an aching back. But the sicknesses and complaints that cause us to seek medical attention actually have deeper origins than the superficial germs and behaviors we regularly fault. In fact, as Jeremy Taylor shows in Body by Darwin, we can trace the roots of many medical conditions through our evolutionary history, revealing what has made us susceptible to certain illnesses and ailments over time and how we can use that knowledge to help treat or prevent problems in the future. In Body by Darwin, Taylor examines the evolutionary origins of some of our most common and serious health issues. To begin, he looks at the hygiene hypothesis, which argues that our obsession with anti-bacterial cleanliness, particularly at a young age, may be making us more vulnerable to autoimmune and allergic diseases. He also discusses diseases of the eye, the medical consequences of bipedalism as they relate to all those aches and pains in our backs and knees, the rise of Alzheimer’s disease, and how cancers become so malignant that they kill us despite the toxic chemotherapy we throw at them. Taylor explains why it helps to think about heart disease in relation to the demands of an ever-growing, dense, muscular pump that requires increasing amounts of nutrients, and he discusses how walking upright and giving birth to ever larger babies led to a problematic compromise in the design of the female spine and pelvis. Throughout, he not only explores the impact of evolution on human form and function, but integrates science with stories from actual patients and doctors, closely examining the implications for our health. “Seven vivid true stories dramatically describing patients and their doctors discovering evolutionary explanations for diseases. More than just the perfect book club book, it advances the field of evolutionary medicine.” —Randolph M. Nesse, coauthor of Why We Get Sick

Author : Moises Velasquez-Manoff
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 416 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2013-09-17
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781439199398

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An Epidemic of Absence by Moises Velasquez-Manoff Pdf

A controversial, revisionist approach to autoimmune and allergic disorders considers the perspective that the human immune system has been disabled by twentieth-century hygiene and medical practices.

Author : Stephen C. Stearns,Jacob C. Koella
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 398 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Medical
ISBN : 0199207453

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Evolution in Health and Disease by Stephen C. Stearns,Jacob C. Koella Pdf

This work explores and analyses the ways in which our ancient genes contend with, and influence, modern human life. It offers coverage of the points of contact between evolutionary biology and medical science.

Author : Peter D. Gluckman,Alan Beedle,Tatjana Buklijas,Felicia Low,Mark A. Hanson
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 401 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2016
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780199663927

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Principles of Evolutionary Medicine by Peter D. Gluckman,Alan Beedle,Tatjana Buklijas,Felicia Low,Mark A. Hanson Pdf

This is the first integrated and comprehensive textbook to explain the principles of evolutionary biology from a medical perspective and to focus on how medicine and public health might utilise evolutionary biology.

Author : Martin Brüne,Wulf Schiefenhövel
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 992 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2019-01-31
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9780192506788

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The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Medicine by Martin Brüne,Wulf Schiefenhövel Pdf

Medicine is grounded in the natural sciences, among which biology stands out with regard to the understanding of human physiology and conditions that cause dysfunction. Ironically though, evolutionary biology is a relatively disregarded field. One reason for this omission is that evolution is deemed a slow process. Indeed, macroanatomical features of our species have changed very little in the last 300,000 years. A more detailed look, however, reveals that novel ecological contingencies, partly in relation to cultural evolution, have brought about subtle changes pertaining to metabolism and immunology, including adaptations to dietary innovations, as well as adaptations to the exposure to novel pathogens. Rapid pathogen evolution and evolution of cancer cells cause major problems for the immune system to find adequate responses. In addition, many adaptations to past ecologies have turned into risk factors for somatic disease and psychological disorder in our modern worlds (i.e. mismatch), among which epidemics of autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity, as well as several forms of cancer stand out. In addition, depression, anxiety and other psychiatric conditions add to the list. The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Medicine is a compilation of cutting edge insights into the evolutionary history of ourselves as a species, and how and why our evolved design may convey vulnerability to disease. Written in a classic textbook style emphasising physiology and pathophysiology of all major organ systems, the Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Medicine will be valuable for students as well as scholars in the fields of medicine, biology, anthropology and psychology.

Author : Graham A. W. Rook,Christopher A. Lowry
Publisher : Springer
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2023-03-26
Category : Medical
ISBN : 3030910539

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Evolution, Biodiversity and a Reassessment of the Hygiene Hypothesis by Graham A. W. Rook,Christopher A. Lowry Pdf

This edited collection of 12 chapters by research workers from a wide range of disciplines resolves the confusion that currently surrounds the “hygiene hypothesis” by considering the human need for exposure to microorganisms from an evolutionary point of view. The book explains why we evolved a requirement for exposure to microbiota from our mothers, from other people, and from the natural environment. It also explains the physiological roles of these exposures, what goes wrong when the exposures are distorted and how human lifestyles and activities, including degradation of the natural environment, are leading to this distortion. Particular attention is given to the range of pathologies associated with inappropriate microbial exposures and inappropriate colonization, including immunoregulatory problems such as allergies and autoimmunity, metabolic problems such as obesity and diabetes, and problems of central nervous system function and neurodegeneration. This book is of profound relevance to most medical disciplines, but also to those concerned with preserving the natural environment and with developing healthier urbanisation.

Author : Randolph M. Nesse, MD,George C. Williams
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2012-02-08
Category : Health & Fitness
ISBN : 9780307816009

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Why We Get Sick by Randolph M. Nesse, MD,George C. Williams Pdf

The next time you get sick, consider this before picking up the aspirin: your body may be doing exactly what it's supposed to. In this ground-breaking book, two pioneers of the science of Darwinian medicine argue that illness as well as the factors that predispose us toward it are subject to the same laws of natural selection that otherwise make our bodies such miracles of design. Among the concerns they raise: When may a fever be beneficial? Why do pregnant women get morning sickness? How do certain viruses "manipulate" their hosts into infecting others? What evolutionary factors may be responsible for depression and panic disorder? Deftly summarizing research on disorders ranging from allergies to Alzheimer's, and form cancer to Huntington's chorea, Why We Get Sick, answers these questions and more. The result is a book that will revolutionize our attitudes toward illness and will intrigue and instruct lay person and medical practitioners alike.

Author : Eugene V. Koonin
Publisher : FT Press
Page : 530 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2011-06-23
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780132623179

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The Logic of Chance by Eugene V. Koonin Pdf

The Logic of Chance offers a reappraisal and a new synthesis of theories, concepts, and hypotheses on the key aspects of the evolution of life on earth in light of comparative genomics and systems biology. The author presents many specific examples from systems and comparative genomic analysis to begin to build a new, much more detailed, complex, and realistic picture of evolution. The book examines a broad range of topics in evolutionary biology including the inadequacy of natural selection and adaptation as the only or even the main mode of evolution; the key role of horizontal gene transfer in evolution and the consequent overhaul of the Tree of Life concept; the central, underappreciated evolutionary importance of viruses; the origin of eukaryotes as a result of endosymbiosis; the concomitant origin of cells and viruses on the primordial earth; universal dependences between genomic and molecular-phenomic variables; and the evolving landscape of constraints that shape the evolution of genomes and molecular phenomes. "Koonin's account of viral and pre-eukaryotic evolution is undoubtedly up-to-date. His "mega views" of evolution (given what was said above) and his cosmological musings, on the other hand, are interesting reading." Summing Up: Recommended Reprinted with permission from CHOICE, copyright by the American Library Association.

Author : Jeroen C. J. M. van den Bergh
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 575 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2018-10-18
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9781108470971

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Human Evolution Beyond Biology and Culture by Jeroen C. J. M. van den Bergh Pdf

A complete account of evolutionary thought in the social, environmental and policy sciences, creating bridges with biology.

Author : Krishna R. Dronamraju
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2015-10-13
Category : Evolution
ISBN : 1138783439

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Selected Genetic Papers of J. B. S. Haldane (Routledge Revivals) by Krishna R. Dronamraju Pdf

First published in 1990, this is a compilation of several important papers that have contributed to the foundation of population genetics, evolutionary biology and human genetics. The collection includes Haldane's first paper in genetics, which was published in 1915, reporting the first case of linkage in a mammal, and - fifty years later, in 1965 - his last paper in genetics on selection for a single pair of allelomorphs with complete replacement. Haldane's Rule, the only idea named after him, was published in 1922 and is still valid today. Other papers, which include many Haldane firsts, such as the first estimation of a human mutation rate, first human gene map, first papers in population genetics, first estimate of the probability of fixation of a new mutation, and first measurement of mutation impact on a population, leading to the "genetic load" concept, are included. The volume also includes a paper presenting an ancient logical system for interpreting scientific results.

Author : Daniel Lieberman
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 482 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2014-07-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780307741806

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The Story of the Human Body by Daniel Lieberman Pdf

A landmark book of popular science that gives us a lucid and engaging account of how the human body evolved over millions of years—with charts and line drawings throughout. “Fascinating.... A readable introduction to the whole field and great on the making of our physicality.”—Nature In this book, Daniel E. Lieberman illuminates the major transformations that contributed to key adaptations to the body: the rise of bipedalism; the shift to a non-fruit-based diet; the advent of hunting and gathering; and how cultural changes like the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions have impacted us physically. He shows how the increasing disparity between the jumble of adaptations in our Stone Age bodies and advancements in the modern world is occasioning a paradox: greater longevity but increased chronic disease. And finally—provocatively—he advocates the use of evolutionary information to help nudge, push, and sometimes even compel us to create a more salubrious environment and pursue better lifestyles.

Author : Frank W. Stahnisch,Erna Kurbegović
Publisher : Athabasca University Press
Page : 413 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2020-07-28
Category : History
ISBN : 9781771992657

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Psychiatry and the Legacies of Eugenics by Frank W. Stahnisch,Erna Kurbegović Pdf

From 1928 to 1972, the Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act, Canada’s lengthiest eugenic policy, shaped social discourses and medical practice in the province. Sterilization programs—particularly involuntary sterilization programs—were responding both nationally and internationally to social anxieties produced by the perceived connection between mental degeneration and heredity. Psychiatry and the Legacies of Eugenics illustrates how the emerging field of psychiatry and its concerns about inheritable conditions was heavily influenced by eugenic thought and contributed to the longevity of sterilization practices in Western Canada. Using institutional case studies, biographical accounts, and media developments from Western Canada and Europe, contributors trace the impact of eugenics on nursing practices, politics, and social attitudes, while investigating the ways in which eugenics discourses persisted unexpectedly and remained mostly unexamined in psychiatric practice. This volume further extends historical analysis into considerations of contemporary policy and human rights issues through a discussion of disability studies as well as compensation claims for victims of sterilization. In impressive detail, contributors shed new light on the medical and political influences of eugenics on psychiatry at a key moment in the field’s development. With contributions by Ashley Barlow, W. Mikkel Dack, Diana Mansell, Guel A. Russell, Celeste Tuong Vy Sharpe, Henderikus J. Stam, Douglas Wahlsten, Paul J. Weindling, Robert A. Wilson, Gregor Wolbring, and Marc Workman.

Author : Kristen D. Jackson,LaJeana D. Howie,Omolara Jean Akinbami
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 8 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2013
Category : Allergy in children
ISBN : UCR:31210023846601

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Trends in Allergic Conditions Among Children by Kristen D. Jackson,LaJeana D. Howie,Omolara Jean Akinbami Pdf

Author : James Lovelock
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 155 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2020-11-10
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780262539517

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Novacene by James Lovelock Pdf

A fascinating new study from the originator of the Gaia Theory, “who conceived the first wholly new way of looking at life on earth since Charles Darwin” (Independent) One of the world’s leading scientific thinkers offers a vision of a future epoch in which humans and artificial intelligence unite to save the Earth. James Lovelock, creator of the Gaia hypothesis and the greatest environmental thinker of our time, has produced an astounding new theory about future of life on Earth. He argues that the Anthropocene—the age in which humans acquired planetary-scale technologies—is, after 300 years, coming to an end. A new age—the Novacene—has already begun. In the Novacene, new beings will emerge from existing artificial intelligence systems. They will think 10,000 times faster than we do and they will regard us as we now regard plants. But this will not be the cruel, violent machine takeover of the planet imagined by science fiction. These hyperintelligent beings will be as dependent on the health of the planet as we are. They will need the planetary cooling system of Gaia to defend them from the increasing heat of the sun as much as we do. And Gaia depends on organic life. We will be partners in this project. It is crucial, Lovelock argues, that the intelligence of Earth survives and prospers. He does not think there are intelligent aliens, so we are the only beings capable of understanding the cosmos. Perhaps, he speculates, the Novacene could even be the beginning of a process that will finally lead to intelligence suffusing the entire cosmos. At the age of 100, James Lovelock has produced the most important and compelling work of his life.