Evolutionary and environmental perspectives of health and disease Flashcards
What are the links between nutrition and obesity and ill health?
High food intake, especially those of fatty acids, will increase weight gain and cause obesity. Obesity is associated with higher mortality and diabetes and worse psychological problems.
What is the prevalence of obesity?
Obesity is increasing in school aged children
What are proximate factors?
Lifestyle factors such as diet, obesity and lack of exercise.
What are the evolutionary contexts to population variants?
Natural selection and sexual selection.
What are the environmental contexts to population variation?
Famine and maternal malnutrition.
What is the thrifty genotype?
Offspring of a population that suffered through famine. Glucose consumption is prioritised to the brain and insulin resistance is high in order to promote gluconeogenesis which increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
What is the thrifty phenotype?
Environmental cause where maternal malnutrition occurred while in utero. Glucose consumption is prioritised to the brain rather than the organs and insulin resistance is decreased to prioritise gluconeogenesis. This increases risk of type 2 diabetes later in life.
What is an evolutionary perspective of ill health?
Due to natural selection as a result of thrifty genotype or sexual selection, promotes insulin resistance for greater glucose consumption due to famine environmentally or inherited.
What is gout?
Inflammation of the joints due to excessive uric acid. This is produced from the liver by fructose breakdown of purines. Uricase enzyme is deficient which promotes fat build up due to thrifty gene phenotype in which winter starvation months, uric acid would sustain fat reserves.
