Introduction
According to Nesse, why do we get sick? What are the evolutionary implications in how we understand illness and disease? Human beings are susceptible to a variety of diseases. A disease is a disorder or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system, of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxitcity, or unfavorable environmental factors, illness, sickness, ailment. (Dictionary, 2015). A disease represents a failure, or severe flaw of the body. There are two types of diseases, an infectious disease and a chronic disease. The difference between the two are that an infectious disease, is a disorder caused by organisms — such as bacteria,
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As described by the Centers for Disease Control, chronic disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the United States. A The body is so well designed in some areas yet so poorly designed in others. Why has selection left us so vulnerable to disease? (Nesse, 2005.) Cancer, Diabetes, Cardio vascular,and Respiratory disease. (Infectious and Chronic Disease, 2015.) The immune system is the first line of defense against diseases and infections it a system of organs, tissue cells, and cell products such as antibodies. These antibodies neutralize potentially pathogenic organisms or substances. Signs of our immune system at work are coughing, fever, pain, nausea, vomiting, anxiety and fatigue; these are not abnormalities yet people seek medical help. The presence of these symptoms are fighting mechanisms of our immune system, thus being beneficial since they are aversive and are not themselves problems but a solution. The evolution significance of a disease like sickle cell, creates an immunity to malaria. “Sickle Cell Anemia, as long as carried heterozygous (AS), serve as an effective preventable took against the largest infectious disease killer in the world.” (Understanding our …show more content…
Through this source I was able to obtain an article that discussed Maladaptation and Natural Selection. This article contained a brief overview by Randolph M. Nesse of a published slim volume called “Adaptation and Natural Selection: A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought” written by George Williams. Williams did not use report clever calculations or drawn out field experiments but rather logically discussed a simple question which was whether or not natural selection shapes an individual’s traits that benefit that species. The next article I found was “Evolution of Maladaptation,” by Bernard J. Crespi where he explains that ‘natural selection is not evolution’ and that maladaptation can evolve. The third article “Population Biology, Evolution, and Infectious Disease: Convergence and Synthesis,” speaks about the importance of genetic structure and understanding the response of pathogens by selective pressure imposed by host immunity both natural and vaccine induced. This knowledge is important for the effective management of antimicrobial drugs. The last article that I found is “The role of evolution in the emergence of infectious diseases.” In this article it specifies on how infectious diseases are evolutionizing becoming more rampant, and
Another reason that disease is needed was defined by Thomas Malthus. His concept is called the Malthusian Law, which states that the population will increase geometrically while the food supply will increase arithmetically. This, simply put, means that the population will grow enormously faster than the food supply will. Predictably, this leads to starvation and death. Disease, as a natural check, prevents this from happening. As the population is checked, the supply of food can keep up with the growth of population, keeping the ecosystem balanced. If disease was not a prevalent factor to check the growth of population, then the Malthusian Law certainly would be.
The immune system plays a vital role in helping the body to fight diseases, as well as pathogens, the disease-causing factors. It is mainly composed of the tonsils and adenoids, the lymph nodes and lymphatic vessels, the spleen, appendix, and bone marrow. The main purpose of the immune system is to assist the body in its struggle to maintain optimal health.
Survival of the Sickest, written by author Dr. Sharon Moalem, is a book discussing why evolution has not allowed for the destruction of certain diseases. He states that these deadly diseases, such as Anemia, Hemochromatosis, and High Cholesterol, are in fact tools that evolution used to help the human race survive. He explains how these diseases helped fight against more dangerous and life threatening sicknesses such as, Malaria, the Bubonic Plague, and Vitamin D deficiency related illnesses. The main idea of this book is a simple one. Evolution did not necessarily favor adaptations that made us better. Instead, it favored adaptations that helped us survive. Even if these adaptations would end up killing us in the long run.
The body’s protection against viruses, bacteria and other types of invasions is our immune system (Tortora, 2014).
The main function of the immune system is to protect the body from infectious agents such as viruses and other toxins. The immune system can fail us in two ways-either by becoming under-vigilant, letting infections enter the body, or over-vigilant, so that it is the immune system itself, rather than an infectious agent that causes illness.
Dr. Sharon Moalem, the author of Survival of the Sickest, provides a fascinating glimpse into the idea that modern human diseases that afflict us actually have a significant role in the selection and the existence of our ancestors. Before reading this book, I was used to thinking of diseases as disorders that adversely affect a person. While this may be the case for most individuals, Moalem explained in his book that that there’s an underlying connection between various diseases and longevity of a species. He explained how these diseases helped fight against more life threatening situations such as the Bubonic Plague, malaria, and the ice age. Most importantly, I learned that evolution did not necessarily favor adaptations that make us better, but those that help us survive, even if these adaptations would kill us in the long run.
Survival of the Sickest is a fascinating book that explores why we need disease and how different diseases have evolved from the beginning of time. Author, Dr. Sharon Moalem goes beyond the surface and answers many questions about evolution and disease for example, “Was diabetes evolution’s response to the last Ice Age?” and many others. Dr. Moalem shares how many of the diseases that we call harmful today have actually proven to be beneficial to survival for our ancestors. This book shows how every single thing that our ancestors have done in the past from the environment they lived in to the food they ate can be seen in our genetic code. Survival of the Sickest does not solely focus on the history of disease and evolution, it shows the reader
Ever since life first appeared on the planet we call home, these organisms have been changing in a process called evolution. Evolution favors genetic traits that helps a species thrive and reproduce and tries to weed out the traits that threaten a species’ chance of survival. Genes that give a survival or reproductive advantage spread through the gene pool faster while genes that do not help a species get less common. This key mechanism of evolution is called natural selection. But even with evolution and natural selection, genetic diseases that make people sick are still in the gene pool after hundreds of thousands of years. So why would this happen? In Dr. Sharon Moalem’s Survival of the Sickest, he proposes that many of today’s deadly genetic
The immune system is made up of trillions of specialised cells (white blood cells) that detect and destroy pathogens or their toxins. Some white blood cells, which are
At first glance it might seem likely pathogens are really bad for the body. While this is true, it is also true that some infectious disease might have beneficial influences on our body like repair mechanisms and improve the host immune defense. The reason that a pathogen might be beneficial to the host is so that it can stay in the body for a longer period of time if the host is alive and well. Bacteria virulence is the natural selection process of bacteria inside the host’s body. It is so that the bacteria that survive will have the best traits that let them lived to a reproduction stage. The bacteria will continue to reproduce passing its successful traits to the younger generation and at a much faster rate comparing to humans. Bacterial infection is treated using a different variety of antibiotics that is available today. It is uncommon for people to understand the reason why the doctors as that the patient should finished their antibiotics even though they felt better. The reason is because when bacteria survive to reproduce it has the ability to pass down the traits that will help the younger generation survive the medication and be able to infect a different host. For that reason to insure that most of the bacteria are kill doctors normally
Through studies of immunogenetics it has been demonstrated that our bodies respond obediently to infectious diseases by succumbing to their every need. This creates a situation where our genes as well as the environment around us influence our body 's own immune system (Genetic Control of Immune Response and Susceptibility to Infectious Diseases, 2013).
The immune system consists of a defense system that guards the body against invasion from infections and other diseases. Normally, a healthy person's immune system has the capability to differentiate between its own cells and cells that represent threats to the health of the body. (Craft and Kanter, 2002). Autoimmune disease refers to a broad range of over 80 acute, long-lasting diseases that affect nearly every organ in the body. (Wrong Diagnosis.com, 2000).
When the pathogen replicates different components of immune system evolves to protect against various types of pathogens. However infection of an organism does not necessarily shows diseases, disease are only present when the bolus of infection, in terms of when immunity is comprised. All components of
Have you ever wondered how your body works? Did you ever think about how your body defends itself from outside invaders? Remember the last time you were sick. Did you know how your body fought and killed the sickness? All these questions can be answered by learning about one of the most important systems in your body, the immune system.
Our immune system is the second most complex system in our body. It is made up of organs, cells and proteins that work together to protect our bodies from harmful bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms that can cause diseases. Usually we don’t notice our immune system defending us against pathogens, but if the pathogen (harmful microorganism) is aggressive or if our body hasn’t ever come into contact with it, we can get sick. The jobs of our immune system are to recognise pathogens, as well as neutralise and remove them from our body. Our immune system also has to fight our own cells if they have changed due to an illness, for example, cancer. (1)