Biology 1002B Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Obesity, Sickle-Cell Disease, Tuberculosis
9 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Traces of our evolutionary history affect our health. The time has come to close of infectious diseases (pre resistant strains) Novel environments: the human body has only recently adopted it"s current environment, filled with former rarities such as high-fat food. We are living in an environment where we didn"t evolve. Myopia: genetic basis, it"s partly heritable. But that"s weird; now it"s a nonissue, we have glasses, but ancestors would have needed to see predators. 42% of 6-35 yr olds myopic: formal education, looking at tiny letters under fake lighting. 5% of 36-88 yr olds myopic: no formal education, looking a big picture under real light. Alleles pre-disposing people to myopia did not cause myopia in ancestral visual environment. Infectious disease declining; autoimmune disorders rising: tuberculosis, hepatitis a, mumps, measles falling, crohn"s disease, diabetes l, asthma, multiple sclerosis rising, autoimmune diseases are much prevalent in rich countries.
